Benitatxell Pushes for a Bypass to End Daily Traffic Chaos
The small town is overwhelmed by 32,000 vehicles a day cutting through its narrow streets, prompting urgent calls for a long-promised bypass to restore peace, safety, and clean air.
Carrer Pare Plácido and Carrer Capelletes in Poble Nou de Benitatxell are, technically, just streets, each with a roadway barely 4.5 metres wide and sidewalks no wider than 75 centimeters. But with the amount of traffic they handle daily, they could easily be mistaken for highways. More than 32,000 vehicles, including trucks and buses, pass through these narrow lanes every single day. When two large vehicles meet, they squeeze by each other with inches to spare. The result is gridlock in the heart of town.
That’s why the local council is urging the authorities to speed up construction of the long-awaited bypass to divert cars, lorries, and buses away from the heart of the town. The constant congestion has even driven some drivers to take rural backroads, clogging those too. A ring road isn’t just desirable; it’s essential. And so is the cleaner air it would bring, since the traffic currently fills Benitatxell’s main streets with fumes and noise.
The Alicante Provincial Council, responsible for the CV-740 and CV-734 roads that run straight through the town, is being called to act now. The town council voted unanimously to demand funding in next year’s budget for the bypass. Mayor Miguel Ángel García noted that the first phase would cost about €3.5 million, “a modest amount,” he said, given that the Provincial Council expects to close the year with a €250 million surplus. In return, the social, health, and safety benefits for residents would be enormous. “The situation is unsustainable,” the mayor stressed.
He also mentioned that the provincial roads deputy, Arturo Poquet – who is also the mayor of nearby Benissa and knows firsthand the problems of a town split in two by traffic – has described Benitatxell’s bypass as “an absolute priority.” Even so, García revealed that since July they’ve been waiting for a meeting with the Provincial Council’s president, Toni Pérez, to underline how urgent the situation has become.
Traffic jams have long been a problem here, but in recent years the volume has exploded, seriously affecting residents’ quality of life. The town’s main streets have become an “urban fracture,” splitting the community in two. Pedestrians walk along the narrow sidewalks with fear; cars have even mounted the pavement on occasion, narrowly avoiding accidents.
The council’s motion to the Provincial Council also highlights Benitatxell’s long-standing role in connecting the Marina Alta region. Of the 32,000 daily vehicles, about 15,000 come from Xàbia, 9,000 from Moraira, and 8,000 from Teulada. Benitatxell sits at a strategic crossroads but locals want it to be more than just a place people drive through. They want it to be a destination: a welcoming town to stroll through and enjoy, with history, charm, and stunning views of the Montgó, Xàbia’s coast, Puig de la Llorença, and the bay of Moraira.
The town has already introduced sustainable mobility measures, expanding pedestrian zones, calming traffic, and creating park-and-walk areas around the centre, but the core problem remains the same. The streets are overrun. As Mayor García summed it up: “Benitatxell needs to get rid of the thousands of cars that split the town in two every day.”
Adapted from an original article published in Levante EMV: Una circunvalación necesaria como el respirar: 32.000 coches colapsan cada día las calles de Benitatxell
