They are neither Doric, Ionic nor Corinthian, but the columns that drivers have been able to see for nearly a decade on either side of the C-245 road in Sant Boi de Llobregat have their history. Although they do not date back centuries, the pillars have become the symbol of a work that was planned before the Olympic Games, but did not begin until 2009. Cobi was already a distant memory, the moment was marked by the crisis economic crisis and investment cuts forced work to be halted shortly after. Years later it was reactivated and idled until the construction company went bankrupt.
Everything was bogged down, half-finished, with lanes permanently painted yellow and New Jersey barriers everywhere. And the pillars were still there, on the edge of the road, surrounded by weeds, as a reminder of the lack of investment in one of the most economically dynamic areas of Catalonia, with thousands of trucks going up and down the A- 2 to C-32 or vice versa.
The demolition of the five columns on each side, carried out a few days ago early in the morning, without the need for the presence of archaeologists, ends that feeling of provisionality installed in this place, and shows that the machines have returned to the job.
The restart of the works has become a reality with the investment already sealed by the Government (65.83 million euros) and with a new project that those responsible for Roads at the Ministry of Transport have been mulling over. The passing of the years had left the previous documentation expired and did not comply with the current regulations on road safety set by the European Union. Furthermore, the conception of the project was very nineties, with a large elevated viaduct. That is the reason why the columns have been torn down.
They are no longer necessary because the route will be much more integrated into the environment, with a philosophy much more in line with the 21st century, reducing the visual impact on the city's urban cornice and with the addition of a 750-meter-long bicycle lane and three wide that will allow the Llobregat River to be crossed quickly and safely between Cornellà and Sant Boi, thus fulfilling the state strategy for bicycles that incorporates this vehicle into the design of roads until recently reserved only for motor vehicles.
It will be an addition to a part of the new 2.26 kilometer highway, which will be named B-25 and will have two lanes in each direction, directly linking the routes of the A-2 highway near Cornellà with the C-32. past El Prat. In this way, the Llobregat junction – cousin of the Trinitat junction at the other end of the metropolitan area – will be completed, to allow cars and trucks to pass from the Baix Llobregat highway to the Garraf highway without having to approach the roundabouts or having to endure the traumatic Parellada roundabout, a real nightmare for drivers.
Conceived as something provisional until the construction of the junction that is now going to become a reality, this roundabout, with a give way inside included, has had to absorb as best it could a volume of traffic for which it was never intended. So much so that for a long time it topped the list of black spots in all of Spain. The last serious accident was two years ago, when three people died one night in a pile-up involving two cars and a truck.
If there have not been more accidents on a recurring basis, it is because this section has experienced almost permanent congestion, both early in the morning and in the middle of the afternoon. With the new highway, it will be freed from the passage of 35,000 vehicles per day, 40% of the total, and will play the role of a local road and access to the city as it should have from the beginning.
Those responsible for the project recognize that it is not a simple work. They have two years ahead of them to make it a reality, if the planned schedule is met. The large number of roads with which it shares space – and the effects that the works will entail – are added to the railway line, the Llobregat river itself, the Parc Agrari paths, irrigation canals, large high-voltage electrical lines and collectors. , among other obstacles along the way.
The changes in the wording of the project have also been used to make a broader approach to the mobility of the area, from Sant Vicenç dels Horts to El Prat. A few kilometers before the new B-25, at both ends, new links will be created that will serve to speed up the entrances and exits of the expressways, duplicating branches and differentiating local movements from those passing through.
