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There are few certainties during summer on the southern Costa Blanca, but Torrevieja’s traffic is one of them. On any given day, cars and trucks clog the N-332 bypass from early morning until late at night, with queues stretching well beyond the city limits.

 

The worst pressure point is the stretch between the CV905 and CV95, the main road to Torrevieja University Hospital, where traffic reached more than 55,000 vehicles every Friday in August last year.

 

That wasn’t just a one-off either. Throughout July and August, daily traffic regularly surpassed 52,000. Even the yearly average is staggering, sitting at more than 42,600 vehicles per day.

 

The N-332 dual carriageway is the main road to Alicante Airport for most people living or holidaying on the Orihuela Costa, especially those trying to avoid the high AP7 motorway tolls. Despite warnings and previous attempts to steer drivers to alternative routes, the reality is there are few reliable options left. The bypass remains the only continuous, non-tolled link between the southern coast and the airport.

 

Plans to widen the N-332 have been promised for years. A project to add an additional lane in each direction between the hospital junction and the bridge at Avenida Rosa Mazón finally received environmental approval in early 2024, but the final design still hasn’t been released for public consultation.

 

Until that next step happens, no contractor can be appointed and no work can begin. That leaves yet another summer with no relief in sight.

 

The €55 million project would expand 4.47 kilometres of the N-332. However, it stops short of Alto de la Casilla, leaving another heavily congested section off the table entirely.

 

Elsewhere, congestion on feeder roads like the CV905 and CV95 causes a knock-on effect across the area. Roundabouts leading into Torrevieja are regularly gridlocked. Back roads and shortcuts, once known only to locals, are now just as busy. In Rocío del Mar and Cala Dorada, there are times when it is virtually impossible to enter or leave by car.

 

According to the Directorate General of Traffic (DGT), congestion alerts are now issued daily along the dual carriageway near Ferrís. These alerts often last for more than twelve hours a day, especially in the summer months.

 

 

Unfortunately, for most local residents and business owners, this failure to improve the coastal infrastructure is just one more let-down in a long, lost list. While Orihuela City Council has tidied the Costa up a bit recently, refilling some potholes and repairing sections of the cliff walk, it’s merely a drop in the ocean.

 

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Transport says it is committed to the expansion project. But for the thousands of drivers caught in traffic each day, that commitment is difficult to see. Until work begins, frustration will only continue to grow.

 

Will this summer finally be the last one spent stuck in traffic with no solution in sight? Or will the long wait stretch into another year?

 

 

Images: Ayuntamiento de Torrevieja/DGT