The Valencian Government has awarded a €1,317,969 contract to engineering group Typsa to draft the basic design and technical documentation for the widening of the CV-95 between Orihuela and Torrevieja. The 26.5 km route links inland Vega Baja with the coast and passes through or around Orihuela, Bigastro, Jacarilla and San Miguel de Salinas.

The project has been demanded by local councils for four decades. The current road has one lane in each direction and carries around 10,000 vehicles a day on most sections, rising to more than 20,000 near Torrevieja, with higher volumes during the summer.

The design phase is expected to take more than 20 months. That means construction is unlikely to start before 2028. Once approved, the Generalitat plans to tender the works as a public concession worth an estimated €180 million, using a ‘payment for availability’ model in which the contractor funds the initial investment and receives an annual fee.

Previous attempts to deliver a high-capacity link date back to the 1990s. A motorway project approved in 2007 was later halted by the courts, and more recent improvements have focused on roundabouts and junction safety rather than full duplication of the carriageway.