A new change in traffic in the center of València has provoked criticism from the opposition, which considers that the new measure by María José Catalá's government will facilitate access for private cars to the Town Hall square. The Councilor for Mobility, Jesús Carbonell, explained yesterday that the City Council has approved a change in the circulation of San Pablo Street “to allow turning left towards San Vicente Street.”
The councilor justifies the change by "a request from the merchants of the Central Market", which, finally, the Valencia City Council has decided to accept, "to facilitate the departure of distribution vehicles from the market that until now had to give much more rodeo".
Thus, municipal sources explained in a statement, from Avenida del Oeste you can turn left along San Pablo Street towards San Vicente Street, something that only EMT taxis and buses could do. The rest of the vehicles had to circulate to Quevedo Street and Guillem De Castro or cross Jesús Street to Gran Vía.
Cabronell pointed out that the change will take effect throughout the month of January and joins other mobility measures applied by the new government team in the historic center such as the recovery of 7 EMT lines that now reach the Plaza del City Hall or the opening of Colón Street from Puerta del Mar for private traffic as well as the second lane enabled on this avenue.
Some explanations that do not convince the PSPV. Socialist councilor María Pérez regretted that María José Catalá's first decision to welcome the European Green Capital was to facilitate access for private cars to the Town Hall square. "It is very revealing that the first mobility measure of the Valencia City Council in 2024 is to facilitate, once again, the private vehicle reaching the city center and, in particular, the Town Hall square."
"Although Catalá tries to deceive Valencians by assuring that its priority is pedestrians, the truth is that all the initiatives it has taken show that its priority is the car," said Pérez. For the Socialist leader, these measures "put at risk "doubts not only the pedestrianization of the Town Hall Square but also the path that Valencia must follow in this year of European Green Capital and thinking about the future of being a sustainable capital."
