Four news in one. The first, which unravels a new piece of the B-40, known as the fourth belt, between Terrassa and Sabadell with Castellar del Vallès as guest artist. The second, that the work transferred from the State, which finances the work, to the Governmentwho will be the one who will carry out the informative study and will execute the project of the so-called Ronda Valles. The third, that in the presentation of the initiative, this Friday, The Generalitat has planted the minister Raquel Sánchez as a sign of rejection by the “lack of investment in Catalonia“. As you will suppose, informatively, the political gesture has eaten the infrastructure. And the fourth, that the section in progress between Abrera and Terrassa It will be open, or that is the forecast of the Executive, at the end of 2023.
Two hours before the act, the Govern has announced that it would not be part of the delegation, which was summoned at one o’clock at the Regional Council of Vallès Occidental, under a couple of pine trees, in “neutral ground“, joked the mayor of Terrassa, Jordi Ballart. There was also the mayor of Sabadell, Marta Farresand that of Castellar, Ignasi Gimenez. All, like the head of Transport, Mobility and Urban Agenda, members of the PSC. They have agreed on the importance of the moment – “historic”, of course – and have brandished the need to provide the region with a more and better communications system, both for the population and for the business community.
The good things
Especially jacarandoso was the mayor of Castellar, because his fellow citizens, when the work crystallizessomething that according to sources familiar with the plan could happen not before nine years (six projection and three execution), they will no longer have to cross Sabadell along the Gran Via to reach the C-58 or the AP-7. Her counterpart from Sabadell was also happy, because with this new section of B-40many vehicles will no longer cross the heart of the municipality, which can generate two good things: less contamination and the possibility of reforming this artery that carries too many decades acting as an urban highway. And Ballart is also happy, who sees how his fourth belt section, which ends north of his city, makes sense as it extends to his eternal but healthy rival.
Three of the four politicians who have taken the floor have begun with praise, applauding the agreement that has made it possible to unblock this piece of road from which they will benefit, they have repeated over and over again, “half a million people“But once the dialogue was praised, they have coincided in reproaching an absent Government that has not been able to defend itself. Giménez is the only one who has skirted the issue. Not so Farrés, very harsh with the Generalitat: “I will never plant a good agreement, we stand up for a historic pact. I deeply regret that the Government is not here today. They have not planted the minister, they have planted 500,000 Catalans.”
Same argument in the turn of speech of the mayor of Terrassa: “It is a lack of respect for the territory, not a plant to the State”. The minister has appealed to the “shared will to advance towards practical and shared solutions” and has described the plan as “childish”. After admitting, under the pretext of the crisis, that many promised infrastructures in Catalonia have not materialized, he has promised “not to leave any project in the drawer”. “Since 2018 we have reactivated many paralyzed works, our commitment is unequivocal, firm and resounding“, has said.
Related news
While it is expected that the Department of Digital Policies and Territory, in the hands of Junts per Catalunya, ends up signing, perhaps with some delay, the agreement that transfers the powers of the project to the Generalitat, CKD has positioned itself against the “empty proposal“From Minister Sánchez. Through a statement, Esquerra, who is part of (and chairs) the Catalan executive, ensures that a new highway “does not solve the real mobility problems of the two counties” and is committed to “promoting public transport, especially railway with the orbital train between Vallès Occidental and Vallès Oriental”.
Protest
A dozen people opposed to the fourth belt have demonstrated against the project at the gates of the Consell Comarcal. With the same sign they were brandishing 10 and 15 years ago: “Not to the quart belted“. They demand other mobility solutions, the railway, for example, and denounce “the speculation” that an infrastructure of such magnitude can generate. They have a protest for a while, because the section that goes from Sabadell to Granollers. It is not ruled out, but it is not on the table either. In other words, not one meter will be advanced towards Vallès Oriental if there is not a political and territorial agreement like the one wielded today on neutral ground. Of all this, by the way, the Government and the Generalitat will be able to speak on Friday of next week during the bilateral infrastructure commission, in a purely technical meeting. But not without tension.