This represents a 40% increase in traffic on the C-32: “The motorway is a good alternative and it has been very noticeable”
One year after release of the tolls of the road C-32 in the Maresme (Barcelona), the traffic that circulated along the N-II crossing the coastal towns has been reduced remarkably. According to data from Catalan Transit Service (SCT), the reduction is between 30% and 40%, depending on the section. The most notable transfer from one road to another occurs in the extreme north of the region. The N-II in the upper Maresme has lost 33% of your usual traffic, 11,000 vehicles, 8,500 of which now use the highway to get around. This supposes a 40% increase in traffic on the C-32. “The motorway is a good alternative and it has been very noticeable”, celebrates the Councilor for Mobility of Calella, Joseph Torres.
The trend of the data is in good agreement with the pre-survey traffic studies of the toll barriers, but from the territory they trust that in the coming years the number of vehicles that leave the N-II road for their daily trips can continue to increase.
In this sense, the development of the new links to connect the N-II and the C-32 throughout the region will be key. The works are valued at about 60 million but not yet defined clear execution schedule. In a recent visit by representatives of the Government to Maresme, a possible tender for the projects was pointed out in 2024.
In total, in the region there will be six new accesses to the C-32 (Alella-Masnou, Teià, Premià de Mar, Vilassar de Mar, Canet and Calella) and two more will be improved (Sant Andreu de Llavaneres and Pineda de Mar). When they are done, the councilor from Calella points out, even more traffic should be diverted to the highway. Torres aspires to the traffic of the N-II fall in the middle “at some point”.
However, it is not visualized that the N-II ceases to be a “barrier” in the northern section of the region. “Mobility by car and van in the area is very important and we must live with this,” Torres resigns. Thus, the Councilor for Mobility applauds that there is already a 30% reduction and ensures that despite the difficulties the goal is that the N-II can one day be a “street”.
old tolls
Another of the transformations pending one year after the end of the highway concession is the reuse of the ‘beaches’ of the old tolls. In these months the central payment booths have been eliminated and the new lanes have been defined, but on both sides of the road there is still the physical memory of the old paid C-32.
The Government has a project to convert these spaces into photovoltaic plants, but there are councils that also want to say theirs. It is the case of Arenys de Mar, that has sent a proposal to the Department of Territory and Sustainability to be able to manage a space that they consider “underused”.
The mayor of Arenys de Mar, Annabel Moreno, asks to be able to convert the space of the old toll booths at the Arenys exit northbound into a car park that also includes a motorhome area. In this way, the aim is to deal with the lack of parking in the municipality and also promote a type of nonexistent tourism So far in town.
“After the pandemic, motorhome users have increased and it is long-standing demand Moreno explains. The mayor details that Arenys is “ideal” so that national tourism can carry out weekend stays and get to know the cultural and gastronomic routes offered by the municipality: “It is a tourist proposal that we didn’t have and on which we are working”.
Less income from the IBI of the motorway
On the other hand, the negative face of the end of the concession is the drop in IBI income that municipalities have suffered. In the case of Maresme, the total amount of the invoice is €2.9 million and the most affected municipalities are Mataró (377,000 euros), Arenys de Mar (368,000 euros), Palafolls (277,000 euros), Sant Pol de Mar (276,000 euros) or Calella (224,000 euros).
In the case of Palafolls, for example, the impact is very great, since it is one of the smallest consistories, whose annual budget is around 10 million euros. “The impact has been enormous and has practically meant the disappearance of the item of investments with own resources”, laments the mayor, Francesc Alemany.
In 2022, Palafolls cannot face any investment that does not come through subsidies from supra-municipal administrations and this has forced to park projects that had become historical claims and that the municipal government had put on the agenda in order to start developing this mandate.
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Alemany regrets not being able to take on investments such as the renovation of the roof of a pavilion, lthe opening of a social premises in the Sant Genís neighborhood or the remodeling of the access road to this same neighbourhood: “We have made a minimum management and we have very little capacity to meet the needs of the population.
In addition to the impact of the IBI of the C-32, Alemany recalls that the Public finances have also been seen depleted for the annulment of the capital gains tax or the management of the covid. In the case of Palafolls, in addition, to this is added the severe impact of storm Gloria at the beginning of the term. By 2023, he says, we will have to return to “redefine” priorities: “It is nothing more than the management of misery.”