The Government delegate in the Valencian Community, Pilar Bernabé, has conveyed the support of the central Government to the Green Corridor of València «against those who endorse a mobility full of exhaust pipes» in the 21st century and has warned that it will «only» support «a fair proposal for the southern neighborhoods» of the city. «You can’t exchange trains for cars,» she asserted.
Bernabé met on Tuesday afternoon with the president of the Neighborhood Federation of València, Mª José Broseta, and representatives of the neighborhood associations of Abastos, la Petxina, la Roqueta, Patraix, San Marcelino, Malilla, Tres Forques, Cuidem la Raïosa, and Iturbi.
The central Government supports «an environmentally sustainable city» and one that «ends the railway scar that historically separates the southern neighborhoods of the city through a fair formula,» as reported by the Government Delegation in a statement.
According to Bernabé, the Green Corridor «is the solution supported by residents that ensures safety with evacuation routes, like those in the current Turia Garden.» Bernabé highlighted «the central Government’s commitment to railway transformation, unique in Spain, with an investment of 3,000 million euros.»
In this context, the delegate warned that the Government of Spain, which holds 50 percent representation in the Central Park Society, «will only support a fair proposal for the southern neighborhoods, who cannot be traded trains for cars.»
INVESTMENT IN VALÈNCIA OF 2.5 BILLION EUROS
Bernabé pointed out that the Secretary of State for Transport and Sustainable Mobility, José Antonio Santano, announced on May 6 that when the Canal de Acceso works are completed, the investment will have reached 941 million euros. In addition to this, there are two planned investments: the new Central Station, exceeding 1,000 million euros, and the extension of the through line to Albuixech.
These two actions, as highlighted by Bernabé, «will represent an investment in València very close to 2.5 billion euros, to which, if we add the almost 1,000 million euros of the Canal de Acceso, we are talking about an investment of 3.5 billion euros, of which the State assumes 3 billion euros.»
Bernabé stated that the last Board of Directors of València Parque Central agreed to promote an update of the García Lorca boulevard project «in a sustainable way, with a climate and gender perspective and with neighborhood consultations.» This, she emphasized, is «a guarantee against impositions without dialogue,» while defending: «The model supported by the Government of Spain is not just urban planning, it’s health.»
In this context, she emphasized that international studies «confirm that areas with more urban vegetation reduce respiratory and cardiovascular diseases by up to 20%,» arguing that now «we cannot miss this historic opportunity to stitch València with life and not with noise, and create another large green space, as was done in the 80s with the old Turia riverbed.»
