It is not uncommon for cyclists and, above all, users of electric scooters to circulate in their vehicles through pedestrian areas where it is not allowed, either because there is a generic or specific prohibition. With the intention of making the rule clearer, improving its degree of compliance and reducing conflicts with pedestrians, Barcelona City Council has installed new signage indicating the obligation to get off the cycles or VMP and walk on those zones. It has been done in seven points where there is conflict with pedestrians, which are added to two others that were already being tested. Another 30 locations will be added by the end of the year. The action is part of Pla Endreça, which also includes measures in the field of mobility.
“We want people to understand the sign, respect it and reduce conflicts,” explained this Monday Adrià Gomila, director of Mobility Services at the City Council, at one of these points, the walkway that connects Sant Andreu with La Maquinista above. of the train tracks. It is a busy place with pedestrians coming and going from the subway stop, the shopping center and the schools on both sides. In the middle of the route, for a year there has also been a connection, also on foot, with the Rodalies station. This space is a common route for home delivery food delivery people who travel by bike or VMP.
In these first seven enclaves there were already signs prohibiting riding a bicycle or electric scooter using round vertical signs with a white background and a red border. But it has been proven that they were not paid much attention. Some may ignore them because they do not have a driving license and are unaware of their meaning. The new ones leave no room for doubt. They are mandatory (round and with a blue background) and in them you can see a cyclist and a VMP user carrying their vehicles on foot. They are based on a model that the General Directorate of Traffic (DGT) plans to incorporate into the General Traffic Regulations and that the city council has adapted. “It is more intuitive, clear for everyone,” Gomila highlighted. The new indications have been placed next to those that already existed. Teams of informants will explain in the first days what the new sign means as well as the regulations.
Until now there were two points with this new signage: the new Treball Digne bridge, in the Sant Andreu district, and Via Augusta with Pau Alcover street, in Sarrià-Sant Gervasi. The seven new ones are in Plaza de Ferran Reyes 2-8, at the confluence of Ferran Junoy and Sao Paulo streets, on the La Maquinista walkway and in two areas of Meridiana, at the height of numbers 276 and 285, all them in Sant Andreu; in Les Agudes, 92 (Nou Barris) and in Gran Via de Carles III-Sabino Arana (Les Corts).
The next 30 sites are being studied with the districts. Unlike the previous ones, they do not have signs that prohibit riding on VMPs and bicycles, but generic municipal regulations do not authorize it. The plan is to place the two signs in these places.
