The Deskarga highway toll is already in operation

The Deskarga motorway toll, the A-636, which joins the Gipuzkoan towns of Beasain and Bergara, came into operation at 00:00 on Tuesday, January 18.

Some 9,000 vehicles They use this road every day. From today, all of them, except motorcycles, must pay between 2.53 and 5.15 euros, although people who have the system Get started They will have discounts.

The Gipuzkoa Provincial Council alleges that the implementation of the canon is “essential” in order to be able to deal with the “costs generated by construction, maintenance and operation”.

Payment will be made through a system of two arches installed in Beasain and Ezkio-Itxaso, to which the existing one in Deskarga will be added, similar to those implemented in certain sections of the N-1 and A-15.

Those users who do not yet have the Abiatu system must provide a current account and a registration to the Diputación to manage the collection. Likewise, until the end of the month, the face-to-face information points will be in operation to facilitate the procedures.

This toll has generated criticism from residents of Goierri, Alto Deba and Alto Urola, as well as from truck drivers.

Carriers Association Criticism

The National Federation of Transport Associations of Spain, Fenadismer, has criticized the “insatiable collection policy” of the Gipuzkoa Provincial Council on the occasion of the implementation of the new toll, which “as a novelty” will not only be charged to trucks.

This organization has made public a statement this Monday, in which it indicates that the system of gantries established on this road that joins the towns of Beasain and Bergara is “identical” to the one that was implemented in the NI and A-15 in 2018 for trucks and what was declared illegal by the courts on two occasions, although now they will also have to pay for buses and cars.

Fenadismer points out that, in this way, the “more than 9,000 vehicles” that pass through this route must have some electronic device or system that enables the payment of tolls that will be established in three sections of the motorway controlled by gantries: in Beasain, Ezkio and Download -2.53 euros for passenger cars and 5.15 euros for heavy trucks.

In addition, it announces that the transport associations are studying the possibility of judicially challenging the “third version” of tolls for trucks on the NI and the A-15, that is, the third regional law that regulates the collection of this canon, which was approved on December 2 and “has not yet received the go-ahead” from the European Comission.

Berdeak EQUO sees the toll as discriminatory and tax collection

Berdeak EQUO has asked the Gipuzkoa Provincial Council to rectify, since it considers that it will cause the transfer of secondary road traffic. In addition, it is discriminatory for the regions of Alto Urola, Debagoiena and Goierri.

The training has criticized in a statement that the objective of the foral institution is “balance the accounts” by Bidegi, after “decades of waste and cost overruns in a road network whose maintenance cost is multimillionaire and unaffordable with ordinary budgets”.

The fees for the use of road infrastructure “are useful to move towards fairer, more sustainable and safer mobility”, but as long as they are focused on reducing emissions, they are calculated “in a transparent and objective way”, they are paid for ” real use” of the vehicle and taking into account the income level of the users, he pointed out.

Considers that Abiatu establishes a spending ceiling and discounts based on the number of trips made, which encourages the private vehicle and does not discriminate according to the power of the vehicle, the degree of occupancy or the income of the user.