A-7 versus AP-7 (Malaga)
Discussion
Driving from Gibraltar to Malaga on the coastal road (A7), which has a limit of 80km/h, I was concerned by the number of very short slip roads / Stop sign entry points.
[i]"The A-7 is a busy road with high density, due to the fact that it is located directly on the coast and joining all the coastal municipalities. Since in many sections the A-7 is actually the old national road, there are many areas with only two lanes and narrow curves that force you to slow down at 80 km / h.
Another major disadvantage is the quality of driving; There are numerous departures from the urbanizations with a very short or nonexistent acceleration lane and often the driver of the right lane is forced to brake suddenly by reckless incorporations."[/i]
The above is taken from https://www.malagacar.com/sp/blog/consejos-de-viaj... and translated by Google.
Has anyone driven this road? Would you agree that a limit of 60km/h would be better?
Interestingly the signs for the autopista (with toll charge) point out that it is safer. While I don't doubt that, I am surprised that they admit that extra charge means a safer journey.
[i]"The A-7 is a busy road with high density, due to the fact that it is located directly on the coast and joining all the coastal municipalities. Since in many sections the A-7 is actually the old national road, there are many areas with only two lanes and narrow curves that force you to slow down at 80 km / h.
Another major disadvantage is the quality of driving; There are numerous departures from the urbanizations with a very short or nonexistent acceleration lane and often the driver of the right lane is forced to brake suddenly by reckless incorporations."[/i]
The above is taken from https://www.malagacar.com/sp/blog/consejos-de-viaj... and translated by Google.
Has anyone driven this road? Would you agree that a limit of 60km/h would be better?
Interestingly the signs for the autopista (with toll charge) point out that it is safer. While I don't doubt that, I am surprised that they admit that extra charge means a safer journey.
The A7 can be a bit hairy in places but if you've got your wits about you it's not too bad. You need to identify the junctions and keep an eye out of traffic approaching the very short slips that may emerge in front of you.
I used to use the AP7 toll road from Malaga airport to Marbella every time but last few years I haven't bothered as it's now silly expensive and you don't save much time as this section of the A7 is all dual carriageway with no stops more or less as far as Estepona. I usually take the toll road if I'm going to Gibraltar as it does avoid a few towns along the way, and that section isn't as expensive. You can take the A7 as far as San Pedro then jump on the AP7 down towards La Linea.
I used to use the AP7 toll road from Malaga airport to Marbella every time but last few years I haven't bothered as it's now silly expensive and you don't save much time as this section of the A7 is all dual carriageway with no stops more or less as far as Estepona. I usually take the toll road if I'm going to Gibraltar as it does avoid a few towns along the way, and that section isn't as expensive. You can take the A7 as far as San Pedro then jump on the AP7 down towards La Linea.
quinny100 said:
The A7 can be a bit hairy in places but if you've got your wits about you it's not too bad. You need to identify the junctions and keep an eye out of traffic approaching the very short slips that may emerge in front of you.
I used to use the AP7 toll road from Malaga airport to Marbella every time but last few years I haven't bothered as it's now silly expensive and you don't save much time as this section of the A7 is all dual carriageway with no stops more or less as far as Estepona. I usually take the toll road if I'm going to Gibraltar as it does avoid a few towns along the way, and that section isn't as expensive. You can take the A7 as far as San Pedro then jump on the AP7 down towards La Linea.
We have a place in Marbella. I'd agree with most of that. The only comment I'd add is that the pricing on the AP7 is seasonal AFAIK, so it's expensive during the summer, and cheaper in the winter. I used to use the AP7 toll road from Malaga airport to Marbella every time but last few years I haven't bothered as it's now silly expensive and you don't save much time as this section of the A7 is all dual carriageway with no stops more or less as far as Estepona. I usually take the toll road if I'm going to Gibraltar as it does avoid a few towns along the way, and that section isn't as expensive. You can take the A7 as far as San Pedro then jump on the AP7 down towards La Linea.
Chris Stott said:
ALways use the AP7 to get from the airport to our place near San Pedro. Once you get up the hill out of Malaga, there's normally no traffic and easy to cruise at 150ish.
Coast road is a PITA and only use it on occasion to get to Marbella or Banus.
I don't cruise that fast anymore after getting fined for doing 130 last year. I never saw the camera (but they did send me the photo, so it was pukka).Coast road is a PITA and only use it on occasion to get to Marbella or Banus.
I also got hit with an extra admin charge by the hire company for processing the paperwork.
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