Trànsit wants to give priority to cyclists on some roads on weekends

The director of the Catalan Traffic Service, Ramon Lamiel, explained this Wednesday in Parliament that they are working to establish a "preferential use" for cyclists on Berguedà and Penedès roads during the weekend, in which cars should reduce the speed.

Oliver Thansan
Oliver Thansan
16 March 2023 Thursday 01:02
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Trànsit wants to give priority to cyclists on some roads on weekends

The director of the Catalan Traffic Service, Ramon Lamiel, explained this Wednesday in Parliament that they are working to establish a "preferential use" for cyclists on Berguedà and Penedès roads during the weekend, in which cars should reduce the speed

Lamiel explained it at the end of an appearance in the Interior commission scheduled to talk about the accident rate of the cyclist group in Catalonia in recent years and possible solutions to reduce it.

One of the measures proposed to guarantee the safety of people who go out by bicycle to play sports would be, Lamiel pointed out, to implement "preferential use routes" for them.

"It could be the weekend morning because we have detected that this is when there is more cyclist activity on interurban roads and more accidents: 15% of accidents with cyclists involved are located in that strip," said the director of the SCT.

Lamiel specified that they have been working on the proposal for a long time, that they have already discussed it with the Barcelona Provincial Council and that two possible enclaves have emerged from the joint work to locate these preferred routes for cyclists: one would be the section of the C-16 highway between Manresa and Guardiola de Berguedá (which passes through towns such as Navàs, Sallent, Gironella or Berga) and the other would be a "circuit" through the Penedès region that is still pending completion.

"This means that at certain times - it could be the weekend - we would signal with mobile traffic management devices that cyclists have preferential use of the road and that drivers have to reduce speed," Lamiel specified before the deputies. of the Interior Commission.

"We hope that this can be carried out in various parts of the country," said Lamiel, who has not set any calendar in this regard beyond specifying that they are still working on it.

The director of the SCT added that they are also in talks with the Girona Provincial Council to work on applying it to the so-called "carretera dels Àngels" (GIV-6703) that leaves the capital Girona towards towns in the Empordà.

"In areas where there are almost no neighbors, it is easier to raise it. In those with more population, we will have to think very carefully about how we do it," Lamiel opined.

The appearance of the director of the SCT has reviewed the data on cyclist accidents in Catalonia and Lamiel has shown that the mortality of cyclists in the territory has maintained the same trend for the last 15 years: in 2007 there were nine cyclists killed on the road, in 2019 they were another nine and in 2022 there were 7 (2020 and 2022 are excluded from the analysis due to circulation disturbances due to the pandemic).

However, the data reflects an increase in the number of accidents with cyclists involved in which there are victims in the same period: in 2007 there were 188, in 2019 there were 448 and in 2022, 492.

"This is explained by the change in the mobility model in recent years, which has made many more people use the bicycle for their daily trips or to go to work", Lamiel pointed out.

Regarding the places where accidents related to cyclists are concentrated, the director of the SCT has indicated the N-II, the C-35, the C-31, the N-340 and the N-260, all with more than ten cyclists who were victims of an accident last year.

To combat the accident rate at these points, Lamiel has requested that interventions be carried out on the roads, both in signaling and in the state of the infrastructure: "I give an idea of ​​where action should be taken."