BarcelonaAfter fifteen years of provisionality, the new Sant Antoni round is beginning to emerge. Although the works still continue, a week ago the first section was opened, the one between Villarroel and Comte Urgell streets. A half-baked inauguration but one that has arrived accompanied by controversy, like almost everything that has to do with this project. This time the debate revolves around the lane that has been opened to traffic in this section and that in its first days in operation has turned this border avenue between the Eixample and Ciutat Vella into a complete traffic jam.
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At any time of the day, queues of vehicles – buses, but also private cars and motorbikes – are common. The causes of the traffic jam are various, but they have a main protagonist: the new traffic light at the intersection between the roundabout and Carrer Comte d’Urgell. A barrier that is almost always red. The cars spend about 1 minute and 10 seconds stopped before the traffic light does not turn green. And when it turns green, it only lasts 12 seconds. It’s just the right time for three or four cars to pass, the last one almost always already brushing the infringement. The traffic jam is aggravated by the fact that there are up to six bus lines that have to get on and off at the stop on this stretch.
The images of queues of vehicles and the sound of engines have ended up irritating the part of the neighbors who had historically defended the pacification of the roundabout and who had been criticizing the changes being made to the original project for months. Although it was already planned that the buses going down Villarroel could turn through the Ronda to go find Carrer Manso, the residents did not expect that private vehicles would also be able to drive there. Nor that the road was made of asphalt and not stone.
“It is being shown that it is a mistake to open it for all kinds of vehicles”, says Àngel Cordero, of the Pro Pacification Platform of the round. He believes that the City Council and the technicians “have prioritized the economic interests of some trade representatives” and that the decisions taken “reflect a mentality typical of the 20th century” and “leave aside policies focused on combating the climate crisis and improving the quality of life in the neighborhood”.
A chaotic step
Another complaint of these neighbors is the fact that right now there is a chaotic point. Despite being pacified, the passage between the first section and the second of the round continues to be a constant traffic of vehicles coming down from Villarroel in the direction of Riera Alta to enter the Raval. Stopping for a while at that point allows you to observe how no one is very clear about who has priority.
From the City Council they emphasize that it is still in the construction phase and that until everything is finished neither the work nor the mobility will be consolidated. They also argue that “traffic needs time to adapt to the new traffic configuration”. The same sources also point out that adjustments are still needed, such as installing signage at the intersection between Floridablanca and Villarroel to deter some of the traffic that goes down this last street, as well as increasing the traffic that is there when vehicles arrive at the round Sant Antoni. The signage that restricts entry to Ciutat Vella via Riera Alta also needs to be installed, they point out.
However, the council is open to making specific changes in some aspects. In a meeting last Monday with the most critical neighbors, the City Council already undertook to place an access control in section two of the roundabout – between Villarroel and Casanova streets – to guarantee that the authorized passage of vehicles is ” solely and exclusively for the neighborhood”. In addition, they are also open to making changes in the semaphore phases to try to avoid the collapse.
Christmas lights around
The neighbors who opposed the current pacification project, however, believe that what is happening now in the street is the result of the project that was agreed upon at the time. “It was just like this one,” says Lídia Núñez, from Som Sant Antoni. In his case, he believes that much of the traffic jam that is now occurring in Ronda Sant Antoni is because Carrer Tamarit has had to be cut off to carry out works and cars cannot pass through it.
In fact, Núñez criticizes the fact that this street was built “in the middle of Christmas.” Som Sant Antoni and the City Council, however, have reached an agreement to revitalize the first section of the Sant Antoni roundabout. The council will put up Christmas lights and a series of promotional videos have been made to encourage the people of Barcelona to approach this walk.
