2024 opens with three long-awaited – and some also controversial – works that have shared this Monday, January 8, as their official start date. The first is the remodeling of the Sant Antoni ring road, a project with a strong political and neighborhood controversy behind it that is now experiencing a new episode. The second, the extension of the L8 between Plaza Espanya and Gràcia, a key action to provide better public transport to central but somewhat underserved areas and which have also had their controversy due to the felling of trees that will be required in Joan Park. I look. And, the third is the new phase of the future Mandri station of the L9 metro, which has had its large access shaft under construction for too many years and which is now beginning a new phase. They are three long interventions – especially the last two – that come with their respective annoyances in the environment.
The start of the works on the definitive redevelopment of the Sant Antoni ring road is barely pacifying the neighborhood and political conflicts that this transformation entails. Those who were betting on the buses going up and down this stretch again are very disappointed with the development of events.
“Jaume Collboni said up to six times that he would not support the reform proposed by BComú – say these neighbors and merchants – but after assuming the mayor's office he forgot about them all. How is it possible that he suddenly supports this reform? Has the round become another card in political negotiations?
Furthermore, these neighbors and merchants understand that these works do not comply with the law, that the City Council did not process the corresponding modification of the General Metropolitan Plan, that the irregularities are similar to those that led a judge to order that the transformation of Consell de Cent. “Such pacification will bring many problems to those of us who live and work here. “Resident access and loading and unloading are too restricted.” What happens is that these neighbors and merchants asked a few lawyers for a quote and at this time, filing an administrative dispute is beyond their capabilities.
In any case, the municipal group of the PP shares these arguments and demands that the City Council stop these works, and yesterday they set up a stall in the ring road, to explain them to whoever passes by. Those of BComú, for their part, celebrate that Mayor Collboni's government has assumed his legacy.
On the other side of the trench, the long list of entities that always supported the total pedestrianization of the ring road and that view the project at the time led by the then deputy mayor of Urban Planning, Janet Sanz, with very good eyes, trust that at As the works progress the tension will relax.
“When a space remains forgotten for fifteen years, a multitude of problems appear,” these entities now say. Finally we face the definitive redevelopment of the ring road. All this is the result of a participatory process. And as soon as the works are finished, when this space is finally dignified, the controversies will come to an end.” In any case, while the works last, these entities will be very attentive to ensuring that everything goes as planned.
The neighbors who enjoy the trees in Joan Miró Park are also willing to do exhaustive monitoring. In that place, 118 trees will be cut down this summer to be able to install the logistics area for the extension works of Ferrocarrils de la Generalitat (FGC) L8 from Plaza Espanya to Gràcia, which will connect the Llobregat and Vallès lines from 2030. with a four-kilometer route that aims to move 70,000 daily users.
The impact on the green area will be 40% less than initially planned and is inevitable for those responsible for the Department of Territory and the Generalitat, although this will increase the cost of works with already large figures by six million ( 412 million planned investment). The technicians have spent the last six months looking for alternatives in the surrounding area and have not found them because they would mean a greater impact on traffic on the Gran Via or the Paral·lel.
The tunnel boring machine will begin boring into the subsoil next year but yesterday work began to build an attack shaft 100 meters long and twenty meters wide in the middle of Gran Via. There will also be damage to Plaza Gala Placídia and various points on Urgell Street: at Consell de Cent, where an emergency exit will be built; in the area around the Clínic, where there is a station; and in Francesc Macià, where another will be built. The elimination of several traffic lanes on Urgell Street for several years can complicate things for those who travel by car in the area.
The neighbors and merchants in the upper part of Mandri are not happy either. The very long work on L9 involves the closure of the two traffic lanes that were open – one in each direction – between Paseo de la Bonanova and Bigai, which those responsible for the actual work plan to do tonight. This total traffic cut, which will last until the second quarter of next year, coincides with a new phase of this project, which requires a greater occupation of space, and certifies that the works, which were stopped for a long decade in desperation of those who live and work there – on the other side of the large fence that hides the hole – have made good progress since they resumed in January 2021. That is the good news.
The enormous shaft is completely excavated and now the structure of the lobby of the future station will be built using screens and the large vertical access, 75 meters deep and 30 meters in diameter, will be prepared for the arrival of the tunnel boring machine, which is expected to reach this point this spring. But there is still a lot ahead. Several years. The Generalitat's forecast is to put this central section of L9 into service with some stations between 2027 and 2028. And as of today, it is unknown if Mandri will be among the first to open.
The interruption of traffic at that point, which maintains access to the buildings' parking lots and to service and emergency vehicles, forces a change in the habits of many people who usually take Mandri to go from Paseo de la Bonanova to General Miter and vice versa directly. Now they will have to take some detours. The loading and unloading space of this section will be transferred to the adjacent section of this same street, specifically, at the sea crossing with Maó. Containers will also be moved from the affected area. The cut modifies the routes of bus lines V13 and N8 going up and V11 and 70 going down.
