The release of motorways in Catalonia has generated a transfer of traffic to the expressways that has no short-term solution
Drivers still have no alternative and the railway ignores the goods
Catalonia did not take long to realize that the elimination of tolls on the AP-7, just a year ago, was more than a blessing, it was a double-edged sword. On the one hand, the eternal comparative grievance with the rest of the State was put to an end. Of course, the barriers of the C-16, the Llobregat axis, and the C-32 south remained, both in the hands of the Generalitat, ironies of fate. But when you release the mediterranean highwayand also the north C-32, the AP-2 or the C-33, but above all the AP-7, a transfer of circulation from parallel highways free of charge to those supposedly fast roads that were now also free. Everything should change in 2024, when Spain, if it wants to comply with Europe, will implement a system of pay per use. While that arrives, the challenges, the weak points and the problems.
The first weak point is the most obvious: there is more traffic and therefore more congestion, more queues, more time on the road and also more pollution. All wrong. Some data to understand the situation: in the last year, the passage of vehicles has grown by 40%. In the case of the AP-2, the presence of cars has doubled, and that of heavy vehicles has tripled.
To try to unclog the situation, the Government has a plan in hand. It will take five to seven years and an investment of more than 1,000 million euros. New lanes in the most congested points (223 kilometers) should alleviate the daily burden suffered by the expressway. The northern AP-7 will have a road between the border and La Jonquera, between Hostalric and Montornès del Vallès and between Montmeló and Parets del Vallès, while in the southern section capacity will be increased in the connection with the B-23 and the AP -2, at El Vendrell, and a lane will be added between L’Hospitalet de L’Infant and Amposta.
This situation, however, creates an opportunity on secondary roads such as the N-II or the N-340, now converted into connecting roads between municipalities after losing most of the opportunistic traffic. In the N-II, for example, there is already talk of the legendary cycle lane that allows connecting the entire Maresme by bicycle.
The Government’s plan includes an important effort in the improvement and creation of new accesses and links of the AP-7 with the rest of the road network. It is there, in these junctions, where a good part of the problems are also generated, which are later transferred to the interior of the Mediterranean motorway. Although both this measure and that of increasing lanes could lead to greater use of the car, the Government denies the majority. “The objective is not to encourage the use of highways, but rather to adapt them to the current reality and the needs of the future,” assured the Minister of Transport, Mobility and Urban Agenda, Raquel Sánchez, at the end of July.
Difficult-to-manage accidents
More cars equals more accidents. And that, which is bad, hides a not so negative reality: the number of claims with deaths and serious injuries (from September 1, 2021 to mid-June 2022) fell in Catalonia by 21%, despite, and that It is a tragic fact, that the number of deaths is similar to that of 2019, the last year that provides comparable data on mobility. By road, the decline is spectacular on the N-340 (-75%) and on the northern section of the N-II (-60%), while on the AP-7 it has increased by 25% south of Barcelona and 66.7%, to the north. Trànsit has asked the DGT to limit the speed to 110 or 100 km/h in some sections. The measure is still under study.
On the AP-7 there are 30% more accidents than three years ago (they account for 40% of the total on all the main roads), but 55% of these accidents are collisions, that is, a vehicle colliding with the from the front With less traffic on the roads, head-on crashes, almost always fatal, have been drastically reduced. Apart from the personal tragedies, the presence and resolution of these accidents on the asphalt is a real headache for Trànsit, which has deployed cranes at strategic points of the network to try to act as quickly as possible and thus reduce retentions arising from the shock.
In dark times, the fact of avoiding tolls, despite traffic chaos, is a relief for most drivers. There will come a time, however, when it will be time to scratch your pocket again. And that will require technical studies, but it will also require political courage, because as much as the measure makes all the sense in the world, the debate will take place at a delicate economic moment. With the municipal elections in May 2023 and the general elections, if there is no progress, scheduled for the end of the same year, it will be a difficult melon to control. Most likely, the Government will bet, at the state level and as is already done in much of Europe, for a system of charging for use linked to emissions. That is, both you travel and pollute, both you pay. It remains to be seen what role the opposition plays in the proposal.
Everything told so far confers at this point. If citizens bet on the car for their trips (they have every right in the world) it is basically for comfort and custom (delivery professionals aside). But the lack of public transport alternatives has a lot to do with it, something that basically applies to movements on weekdays, when important traffic jams are also taking place on the AP-7. As Ramon Lamiel, director of the Servei Català de Trànsit, said before the summer, the motorway “has reached its ceiling”. He said the same about the Trinitat knot when he affirmed that he had “reached his limit”.
Although progress is being made in bus-HOV lanes to access Barcelona and some bus lines are growing (the one in Mataró, for example), the bulk of hope is pinned on railway plans that, in the long term, must connect more and better the Catalan capital with the rest of the territory. The day that only laziness defeats public transport alternatives; that’s the day the driver will be short on arguments.
Truck traffic on the AP-7 has grown by 80%, while on the AP-2 it has doubled. This is a country in which only 4% of goods are moved by train, while there are European states that are close to 20%. The room for improvement is unquestionable. And the Mediterranean corridor plays a fundamental role there. With more drivers using buses or Rodalies and more raw materials traveling by rail, another rooster would crow on the highways.
repeating animals
The best way to avoid traffic jams is to stay home. But put to venture, the first thing to ask is why everyone goes out at the same time? Although from Trànsit they have noticed that people advance their return home on Sundays, the truth is that the same problems are repeated every weekend, more or less serious depending on the accident rate. Being animals of repetition, the smartest thing is to get out of the comfort zone and modify certain habits. Ideally, leave on Friday before three in the afternoon (if possible) and return on Sunday before lunch or after dinner. Apps like Waze also help. And cross your fingers.