The Commission for Ecology, Urbanism, Infrastructure and Mobility (CEUIM) of the Barcelona City Council has given the green light this Tuesday at reform of the Via Laietana, which will start in March and will be done in two phases.
In a first phase, the service networks and in June the works will begin for reform the section between Plaça Urquinaona and Plaça de Antoni Maura, which will last 11 months. Once this section of works is completed, the second level, which provides for the transformation of section that goes from Antoni Maura to Idrissa Diallo.
Thus, the first section of works has a budget of 16.8 million euros while the second section will be allocated 16.1 million euros.
Both lanes are maintained
From the start of the work on the service networks, the two lanes of descent to the entire road -one for a diver and one for vehicles-, and on the way up the buses will divert towards the Paseo de Picasso and the vehicles will be able to reach the height of the Plaza de Antoni Maura.
The approval of the preliminary draft reform of the entire Via Laietana and the executive project of the first section to be built has been approved in committee with the votes of the two groups of the municipal government -BComú and PSC- and the favorable vote of ERC, a group with whom the municipal executive has agreed on the details of the project. The rest of the municipal groups and the non-attached councilor have voted against it.
Also, as explained by the Deputy Mayor for Ecology, Urban Planning, Infrastructure and Mobility, Janet Sanz, the City Council plans to deploy a communication device to inform and monitor the evolution of the works.
The objective of the consistory is keep the neighborhood and merchants updated to minimize the effects of the works and reduce possible alterations to the normal activity of Via Laietana. During the commission, Sanz also stressed that it is “one of the most important reforms“from the city that needed to be retaken and has been satisfied with the work done with ERC, whom he thanked for their support.
In turn, the Republican group has congratulated itself on the progress of the reform, noting that Via Laietana is the “most unpleasant” road that there is right now in Ciutat Vella.
Changes in mobility
The objective of the transformation of Via Laietana is make her “kinder” and allocate more space to pedestrian, to bike, al verde Yet the sustainable mobility. At the same time, the council wants to make it contribute to the reactivation of local commerce and the city center.
According to the lane proposal, the same one presented in July, the private vehicle will only be able to cross the entire downward Via Laietana, towards the sea. Specifically, in the downward direction there will be a shared lane for buses, taxis and bicycles and another traffic lane for the private vehicle limited to 30 km / h.
In the uphill direction there will be only one lane, which will be shared by buses and taxis and which can also be used by residents of Via Laietana and Barceloneta who have a private vehicle. The rest of the vehicles They will not be able to use this lane in the direction of Urquinaona and they will have to opt for an alternative route. Between this lane and the sidewalk there will be a segregated bike rail of traffic that will also be uphill.
Expansion of sidewalks and new squares. On the other hand, the transformation also foresees that sidewalks widen up to 4.05 meters along the entire street, from Urquinaona square to Antonio López square – which will soon be separated and will take place in the Idrissa Diallo and Correos squares. The current widths range from 2.6 to 3.5 meters.
There will be a large square for Antoni Maura that will link the Cathedral with the Santa Caterina Market, and new squares will be generated at the crossroads with the main ones in Ciutat Vella: at the crossroads with Juncales street and those of the Angel and Plaza squares. by Antonio López. They will also relocate and pedestrian crossings will be expanded to improve the connectivity of those transversal of Ciutat Vella.
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Context
The prepandemic calendar foresaw that the transformation works of Via Laietana would begin the last quarter of 2021 but lthe irruption of the covid changed everything. Last July the council made public a redefinition of the project that according to the City Council incorporated improvements. At that time, it was already foreseen that The works will begin before the summer of 2022.
Reference-www.elperiodico.com