Urban planning green light for the 112-metre bridge over the Guadalete

The road traffic bridge over the Guadalete that will link Plaza de La Pescadería with the left bank of the river has passed a new procedural step. The municipal heritage commission (COMSEPE) has issued a favourable technical ruling on the urban planning, landscape and heritage compatibility of the project, according to the Ayuntamiento de El Puerto de Santa María. With this ruling, a further step is taken towards being able to start contracting the works. The infrastructure is planned as an asymmetric cable-stayed bridge 112 metres long and 24 metres wide, with a 30-metre-high mast. It will have lanes for road traffic, wide pavements and cycle bands. Its use will be strictly urban: cars, buses, municipal services, pedestrians and bicycles. It will link Plaza de La Pescadería with the new commercial and leisure area planned on the port lands on the other bank.

The report concludes that the action is compatible with the values of the Conjunto Histórico and its surroundings, with no significant negative impact on its contemplation, legibility or conservation. The bridge does not affect listed buildings nor does it involve demolitions, alterations to façades, changes to roofs or occupation of heritage plots. Its impact is concentrated on the visual perception of the river front. That said, as the foundations and earthworks are located in an area with Grade II archaeological protection, the works must have archaeological supervision. The action is completed with the comprehensive refurbishment of Plaza de La Pescadería and its adjoining streets: Micaela Aramburu, Compositor Javier Caballero, Maestro Veneroni and avenida de la Bajamar. The aim is to improve accessibility, reorganise traffic and renew one of the main accesses to the historic centre. The mayor, Germán Beardo, has stated that the project will make it possible to «recover El Puerto's historic relationship with the Guadalete, connect its two banks and transform a strategic space». The new infrastructure is in addition to the second pedestrian footbridge, whose works are already under way from Plaza de las Galeras. At present there is no date for the start of the works or for the opening of the contracting period.