If you have travelled along the road that links the A-44 to Lanjarón, you couldn’t have helped seeing the massive amounts of earth moving and construction going on, despite all the rain during winter.

These roadworks, to give the Alpujarra a decent access road, were conceived in 2004, followed by long months of total inactivity once it began in March 2023. 

As mentioned above, the rains in February (washing soil away) set back progress, meaning that the completion date for them   won’t be achieved until the second half of the year, with the first-stage, completion date moved from last month to June.

There was also the 10-month delay in 2024 when an adverse geological find meant that a part of the route had to be replanned.

So, where are we at the moment? According to the Junta the first-phase is 47% complete and the second, 35%. You can see the pillars on which a viaduct will sit already up and part of a  cut-&-cover tunnel visible. A cut-&-cover construction entails cutting a slice through a hill, building a tunnel, and then covering it over, as oppose to simply boring a tunnel through the hill.

The new access road will mean a lot to people in Lanjarón and further into the Alpujarra as it will shorten the journeys for residents, especially where getting to a hospital in Granada is concerned. The A-348 handles 3,600 vehicles daily, 9% of which is heavy traffic, after all.

As for tourism, perhaps the old road was an attractive facet, with its windy route through the region… unless you are prone to getting car-sick, that is.

Oh, and before we forget, the old road will be preserved for cyclists and pedestrians, serving as a scenic route with various viewpoints.

(News: Lanjaron, Alpujarra, Granada, Andalucia)

Keywords: Alpujarra Access Road, Roadworks, Viaduct, Tunnel, A-348

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