Tenerife TF-1 third lane to Las Américas has no start date

What changes for commuters and visitors in the south?

Nothing changes for traffic in southern Tenerife for now, because the TF-1 third lane has still not gone out to tender. Almost a year after final approval, the contract procedure for awarding the works is still missing.

The Consejería has given no date for the tender. So there is no start date for the works either, and the 42-month build time, or three and a half years, only begins after that.

The report mentions no new closures or diversions on the stretch. Anyone driving between Las Américas, Los Cristianos and Costa Adeje should allow extra time, as the trip from Las Américas to Costa Adeje normally takes five minutes but can take up to 50 in a jam.

The TF-1 was built for about 25,000 vehicles a day. Today it carries almost 94,000, and more than 100,000 on the busiest sections.

Why must the budget be recalculated?

The Dirección General de Infraestructura Viaria (the Canary Islands roads authority) set the budget at €175.4 million in November 2025. According to the report, that figure is out of date because the prices of certain materials have jumped.

The Consejería must therefore update the project's price schedule and recalculate the tender budget. Without that step it cannot set a market-based budget, as the Ley de Contratos del Sector Público (the public contracts law) requires.

If the Consejería tendered at 2025 prices, the contest might draw no bidders. That would delay the project even further.

Javier Cabrera, president of the business group CEST (Círculo de Empresarios y Profesionales del Sur), blames the revision on inflation. He said it “distorts everything”.

Cabrera cited an annual rate of 4.4%, after seven months in a row of increases, with 2.1% in February. He did not say which price index he meant.

What does the project between Oroteanda and Las Américas include?

The stretch is almost ten kilometres long. It starts beyond the Oroteanda junction at kilometre 64+000 in San Miguel de Abona and ends beyond the Las Américas junction at kilometre 73+760, between Arona and Adeje.

The plan adds one third lane in each direction. The junctions at Parque de la Reina, Guaza, Los Cristianos and Las Américas will also be rebuilt.

The TF-28 road is to get two carriageways with two lanes each. That creates a direct link to the Hospital del Sur.

The Consejería gave the works project its final approval, reported on 5 November 2025. The investment then stood at €175,486,976.34, with a build time of 42 months.

Who pays, and what is in the budget?

The draft Canary Islands budget for 2027 raises the sum for the works from €8.4 million to €10 million. Set against the total budget of around 175 million euros, that is a small share.

Funding depends on the Convenio de Carreteras (the roads agreement with the state), which has been extended to 2030. How the cost is split between the state, the Canary Islands government and the Cabildo (island government) is not confirmed.

By how much the €175.4 million budget will rise has not been published. Neither the Canary Islands government nor the Cabildo has commented on the delay.

How are councils and businesses in the south reacting?

Fátima Lemes, mayor of Arona, called the new setback “bad news” for the region. Arona is the municipality that the stretch crosses for the longest distance.

Lemes said it surprises nobody that the authorities are forgetting the south again. Arturo González from San Miguel de Abona pointed to the authorities' difficulty in carrying out building projects on time and properly.

According to the report, the TF-5 third lane in the north is already on track, so the Consejería now puts the TF-1 stretch at the top of its priority list. The TF-5 project between Guamasa and the northern airport costs €66.4 million, with a build time of 35 months.

Work there was expected to start in summer 2026. Whether it has actually begun is not confirmed.

What happens next with the third lane?

The Consejería must first recalculate the tender budget, and only then can the contest start. It has given no date for the tender.

The 42 months of build time only begin once work starts. There is no completion date.

In the same corridor, the so-called false tunnel between Las Américas and Fañabé is stuck in a dispute seen as a model of delay. The Canary Islands government began terminating the contract in June 2025, and president Fernando Clavijo said the project would not be built in this term of office.