What changes for drivers heading to the North Airport?

Drivers should expect tailbacks throughout the works, and the authorities say so openly. They ask for patience.

By their account, both existing lanes stay open in both directions. In places, though, they may get narrower.

The crews work in shifts, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. They start with demolition at the junctions, including the bridge at Los Rodeos, and leave the main carriageway to the final phase.

Nobody has yet published closures or diversions with dates. If you are driving to Tenerife North Airport, allow extra time and check the updates from the traffic authority DGT before you set off.

The works affect the northern motorway between Guamasa and the airport. The authorities name no consequences for trips in the south, and the sources describe only this stretch.

Where exactly will the third lane be built?

The new lane runs for about 3.6 kilometres towards Santa Cruz, from kilometre point 11.4 to 15. There the carriageway grows from two lanes to three.

A new direct link to the airport is planned for traffic heading north, so those drivers will no longer have to continue to San Lázaro. To make it possible, crews will rebuild the airport overpass as a new junction and also rework the Guamasa and San Lázaro junctions.

The project runs in three phases. Ground surveys, a check of utility lines and site set-up come first, then the junction rebuilds, and finally the main carriageway.

How much does the widening cost and who is building it?

The contract costs €58,182,981.26 including IGIC, the Canary Islands' general indirect tax. A joint venture of Ferrovial Construcción, S.A. and Asyota Asfaltos y Obras, S.L. won it, and the contract has been formalised since 2 October 2026.

The tender budget was €66.4 million, and nine firms submitted bids. The award comes in about €8 million lower, and the sources give no reason for the gap.

Site supervision was awarded separately for just over €2 million. How the Cabildo (island government) and the regional government split the costs has not been published.

When the Cabildo approved the project, it put the cost at about €55 million. It wanted to carry out the works itself, under a cooperation agreement with the regional government.

The regional ministry for public works, housing and mobility (Consejería) later put the contract out to tender and awarded it. Pablo Rodríguez is the Canary Government minister for that portfolio.

Rosana Melián is the director general for road infrastructure. The exact division of roles with the Cabildo is unconfirmed.

How busy is the TF-5?

According to the authorities, the TF-5 carries more than 110,000 vehicles a day, and about 12,000 an hour at the morning peak. In 2025 the Cabildo counted 109,473 vehicles a day between Tenerife North Airport and the La Laguna fire station, the highest figure on the island.

On that stretch, traffic grew by 3,488 vehicles a day over five years, while some northern sections lost a little. In the south, traffic grew faster, by 16,084 vehicles on the Guaza–Aeropuerto Sur stretch.

The Guamasa–Los Rodeos section is a known bottleneck, and accidents have brought it to a standstill before. After the diversion at Guamasa in autumn 2023, the Cabildo reported smoother traffic.

In October 2025 Cabildo president Rosa Dávila cited less congestion: about 15% at peak times and roughly 30% at the worst moments. Bus passenger numbers rose by 39% in two and a half years, but both figures come from the Cabildo and have not been independently checked.

What is still open and what happens next?

According to RTVC, work starts on 4 November 2026 with the signing of the site-marking record (acta de replanteo). Other reports say it will be signed during the week or the week after, so the date differs slightly.

A meeting to inform local residents was scheduled for the start day. The build takes 35 months, and no source gives an end date, though the arithmetic points to around autumn 2029.

Nobody has yet published exact phase or closure dates. The authorities liaise regularly with Aena (the airport operator), the municipalities, the Guardia Civil, local police and the DGT.

The tender was originally announced for the first quarter of 2025, but project approval only came in September 2025. That puts the scheme about a year behind.