The Ministry of Public Works has reopened the A-7 between Carchuna-Calahonda and Castell de Ferro; traffic had been diverted along the N-340 until now.
It was on the 11th of March that a large section of hillside came down onto the autovia, with rubble on both lanes in either direction – it totally covered both eastbound lanes and one of the westbound ones, making it impossible to establish single-lane traffic.
Furthermore, the hillside was too unstable to even contemplate removing the rubble in case more came down onto workers below, so it was decided to cut away and remove the unstable land above the road. We’re talking about 40,000 cubic metres between what had fallen and what had to be removed from the hillside.
Whilst all this was going on, traffic along the coast was diverted onto the N-340 but now the westbound lanes will be converted into single-lane traffic, which means the maximum speed limit will be 80kph between Castell de Ferro and Carchuna on the A-7.
For the moment, however, the exit ramp at Castell de Ferro heading towards Almería is closed, meaning that those that wish to leave the autovía at Castell should either do it beforehand at Carchuna and continue along the N-340, or alternatively, stay on the A-7 to junction 359 (Mamola) and use the junction to change direction back onto the A-7.
(News: Castell de Ferro, Costa Tropical, Granada, Andalucia)