Only the residents of Calle Santa Lucía who have a garage will be able to circulate with their vehicles on the street once the works are finished, which began this week. Since Wednesday, the machines can be seen around the Puerta de Palmas.
The Plaza de Reyes Católicos (which is where the monument is located) will become a one-lane roundabout. Until now it had two in a triangular roundabout, but it is rare to see vehicles circulating in parallel due to lack of space. For this reason, now they leave the roundabout in a single lane, which will be round, explains the Councilor for Roads and Works, Carlos Urueña.
That will be the central performance. Both in this square and in the streets Santa Lucía, Santa Ana and a part of Duque de San Germán, the curbs will be eliminated.
The City Council has decided to carry out the work section by section to affect traffic as little as possible. Although there will be traffic closures on all roads. As the square is the one that supports more traffic, it is wanted to leave it for the summer. Urban planning intends that Reyes Católicos not be completely cut off at any time, since it is a main access road to the center.
Once the works are finished, traffic will only be altered on Santa Lucía street. The performance is scheduled to last ten months and end in early 2023 if everything goes according to plan.
During the study to reform the area, Urbanism commissioned a report to limit the passage of cars through the intersection between the Paseo Fluvial, the city bridges, the Reina Sofía and Juan Carlos I ring roads. The conclusion is that it is not possible to make changes because it is a fundamental point of traffic.
Yes, they are going to eliminate the parking lot between JoaquínCosta and Puerta de Palmas, which was fenced on Monday to start the action. They will convert it into a wide sidewalk to give more space for pedestrians.
There would only be parking for a dozen vehicles. There are not many, but it means reducing places in a saturated area. The parking lot of the Dolores Bas foundation will remain while the City Council reforms the surroundings of the Godoy Palace, where they want to create a temporary one until they build another underground one under the square. On the other hand, the City Council continues to seek funds to build the car park under Prim Street.
Vías y Obras intends that the machines do not enter the Plaza de Reyes Católicos until the summer, when traffic is reduced
The work carried out by Extremeña de Infraestructuras y Obras Civiles SL has a municipal investment of 863,940 euros. Since they act in the streets, they will replace the network of pipes in the streets where they eliminate the curbs. They will also change the lighting and plant small trees that will serve to delimit the sidewalk areas from those where cars can travel.
This work seeks to give more prominence to the Puerta de Palmas and create a single platform axis that reaches from this monument to the Alcazaba. Pedestrians will be able to walk up streets without curbs to Plaza de la Soledad and, once there, take itineraries with no slopes to visit the main monuments. In all of them, the priority is the pedestrian.
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Eddie is an Australian news reporter with over 9 years in the industry and has published on Forbes and tech crunch.