ROAD OF DEATH
Urgent measures to be implemented after N-332 claims two more lives
URGENT measures will be taken to improve road safety along the N-332 following the death this week of yet another cyclist along the main Costa road in Oliva.
Alejandro Jaén Ginestar, 32, from Senija was killed near the spot where three triathletes lost their lives a month ago. The accident was almost identical.
A driver high on drugs crushed the cyclists early on a Sunday morning.
This time, the deceased - the son of a retired Local Police officer - was out training with one other friend, 38, who had to be treated for a panic attack at the scene after witnessing the younger man's death.
This new tragedy adds to a car accident on the same stretch which saw a 91year-old, a baby and a boy of three injured.
But the Oliva death was not the only one of a cyclists on the N-332 this week as a 69-year-old rider died as a result of a crash on the same road through Villajoyosa on Monday.
In an urgent meeting held with all mayors in the area on Wednesday, central government official announced immediate safety measures for the Oliva stretch and an increase in drug and alcohol controls.
Answering demands from mayors from La Safor and Marina Alta areas, Guardia Civil patrols will be carrying out more drug and alcohol controls along the Oliva stretch - especially on Saturday and Sunday mornings, when early bird cyclists use the road alongside revellers returning from all-night clubbing.
In addition, the DGT traffic department will be distributing alcohol and drug test kits to local police in the Marina Alta and Safor so they can also increase tests along the N-332 stretch.
At the meeting it was announced central government will be providing 'safe roads' for cyclists using rural roads and dirt tracks to avoid them using busy main roads like the N-332.
Mayors took the opportunity to demand the end of tolls on the AP-7 in order to reduce traffic on the coast road, but in any case this could not be achieved until 2020 when the current agreement with the private motorway company ends. Improvement work on the N-332 road was also demanded by local mayors.
However, when central government delegate for the region Juan Carlos Moragues suggested earlier closing times for clubs and discos in the area, several mayors refused to take such measures.
Cyclists victims
The death of Alejandro and a 69-year-old man from Villajoyosa has taken the death toll of cyclists along the N-332 in the northern Costa Blanca to five in just one month.
Alejandro and his cycling partner were somewhere near the Font Salada turn, just before the service stations, at around 08.10 when a Dutch hit-and-run driver in a BMW ploughed into them.
Police caught up with him in El Verger minutes later and identified him as a 25-year-old who lived in Ondara.
He tested positive for drugs, although it is not known what he had taken.
The killer was been remanded in custody in Gandia and later sent to prison pending a court hearing after giving a statement before a judge.
The following evening, a 69-year-old man riding a bicycle was killed on the N-332 by-pass around Villajoyosa. In this case police investigations have pointed out he crossed the busy road in a section where it is forbidden to overtake.
Officers say the driver - who tested negative for drugs and alcohol had no chance to brake or change direction.
Oliva car crash
A two--month-old baby girl and a boy of three are the latest casualties of the Oliva N-332 after a smash at the Pego Marjal junction between three cars and a lorry.
They are said to be seriously injured and being treated at Gandia hospital.
Another four adults were also hurt, including a 91year-old man who was rushed to hospital in Dénia with multiple bruising and suspected fractures.
Two men aged 38 were taken to A&E with shoulder and back wounds, and a 32-year-old woman sustained a blow to the head and an open gash. All six are said to be part of the same family.
Footage of the crash showed at least two cars reduced to scrap metal at the ' stop' sign coming out of the marshes onto the N-332 southbound.
This is one of two dangerous interchanges the central government's ministry of public works pledged to restructure back in 2015, a plan that has never got off the ground, complains Oliva's mayor David González. Red tape rather than lack of cash is to blame.
In less than two months, dozens of people have been injured, some very badly, on the N-332 in Oliva, and four cyclists have died.