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There's always urban construction going on in major cities, because the very dynamic of growth and renewal makes it inevitable that there are always aspects that need repairing, modifying and improving. Barcelona is no exception, because even in times of crisis there have always been major urban remodelling works in process. However, from this March 2022, the capital of Catalonia will enter a spiral of urban rebuilding projects that will constitute a major transformation of the city, many of them aimed at achieving a Barcelona that will be more resident-friendly while also becoming more hostile to traffic and vehicle users. In addition, many of these planned works, and some that are already underway, will keep the city clogged with dust and dirt for months, a fact that, fifteen months before the next municipal elections, cannot be considered as a mere coincidence.

As the electoral calendar states, there will be city elections again in May 2023, and although it remains unknown whether Ada Colau will run again, the fact is that the coalition government of Barcelona en Comú and the PSC are launching these major works without any expectation that most of them will be completed within the current term and, therefore, with the question open of whether they will be completed during the next one in the event of a change of city government. Digging up a city shortly before the elections is a well-known electoral strategy, but this time, there is a risk that the works are simply being forced through with the aim of having a half-remodelled city as a way of demanding votes for the next electoral mandate.

Obras Avenida Meridiana urbanismo construcciones Barcelona - Sergi Alcazar

Works on Avinguda Meridiana, one of the projects already underway/ Sergi Alcàzar

In any case, the only thing that is certain is that at the moment a dozen urban reconstruction works are already underway or scheduled that will transform some of the city's major axes, in some cases controversially due to the application of the Superilla Barcelona model, a way of remaking the city which has frontal opposition from some parties outside the current municipal government and which, should those parties win power in Spring 2023, could lead to the paralysis or re-design of those projects. These are the main urban rebuilding works underway in Barcelona, some of which could face paralysis in fifteen months:

Avinguda Meridiana
(works underway)
Barcelona under construction: Colau digs up the city, 15 months before elections

Since April 2021, the section of Avinguda Meridiana between Carrer de Mallorca and Carrer Navas de Tolosa-Josep Estivill has been under construction as part of the comprehensive remodelling project for the avenue, which has already transformed the section between Plaça de les Glòries and Mallorca. The transformation includes a central median with breadth of 9.50 metres, segregated two-way bike lanes, 4.30m wide in total; a 2.60 m parterre on each side with a row of large airy trees. This will eliminate the current bike lanes on the sidewalks, which will allow large parterres to be incorporated around existing plane trees combined with people spaces.

Obras Avenida Meridiana urbanismo construcciones Barcelona - Sergi Alcazar

The Meridiana works should be finished in April  / Sergi Alcàzar

The initial forecast is that this section will be completed in April 2022, but this will not mean the end of the works in this important city access route, as once this sector is completed, thwe work will continue with the section between Navas de Tolosa / Josep Estivill and Fabra i Puig. The city council plans to start work on this sector from summer of 2022 and, at the same time, draft a preliminary project for the works between Fabra i Puig and the Pont de Sarajevo in 2022, which would be carried out after the 2023 elections.

Gran de Sant Andreu
(works underway)
Barcelona under construction: Colau digs up the city, 15 months before elections

Since the end of January, work has been underway on the second phase of the redevelopment of Carrer Gran de Sant Andreu between Carrer de Joan Torras and Plaça de Mossèn Clapés, with the intention of finishing it in December, that is, before the end of the municipal term. With a budget of 4.15 million euros and two sub-phases, the first between Joan Torras and Carrer Campeny, already under construction and the second between Campeny and Plaça del Mossèn Clapés, scheduled for the summer, the aim is to transform the street into an axis with pedestrian preference, with a single platform (that is, no kerbs), street furniture and new services, as a continuation of the section already remodelled between Joan Torras and the Rambla de Fabra i Puig / Onze de Setembre.   

Gran de Sant Andreu ACN

Single platform section of Carrer Gran de Sant Andreu / ACN

Glòries Tunnel, in direction Llobregat
(about to open)
Barcelona under construction: Colau digs up the city, 15 months before elections

Scheduled for the end of last year, then delayed until the beginning of this year, the Glòries tunnel for traffic heading in the direction of the Llobregat (ie, south-west) should come into service very soon, as soon as the progress on the final works permits it. However, once opened for use, there will be still much work on the Glòries project to be done, which is expected to extend beyond the end of the municipal term in Spring 2023. On the one hand, the redevelopment of the surface of the square itself, based on the Parc de la Canòpia project of which so far only the uptown side has been completed and which cannot be completed until all the temporarily-redirected traffic is removed. However, the square will also be affected by the tramway works along the central section of the Avinguda Diagonal that begin in March, and, additionally, by the redevelopment of the part of Gran Via between Independencia / Badajoz and Rambla del Poble Nou. In fact, neighborhood organizations have already expressed their discord with leaving this part of the Gran Via until the the next mayoral term.

Túnel de Glories - Montse Giralt

On the left, beyond the fence, the tunnel in the direction of the river Llobregat is not yet open / Montse Giralt

Via Laietana
(work begins in March)
Barcelona under construction: Colau digs up the city, 15 months before elections

One of the star projects of the current municipal government. The redevelopment of Via Laietana will begin on March 1st 2022 with works on the upper section - between the squares of Antoni Maura and Urquinaona, which will last until the end of April 2023. In other words, the inauguration of this first part could take place just before the election campaign - it should be remembered that during the campaign, opening ceremonies are prohibited (!) - while the second, downtown, phase, between Antoni Maura and Correos will be pending for the next city council term. The aim of the remodelling is to create a new configuration with widened sidewalks, a central traffic road that will have, an uptown lane for buses and taxis that can also be used by the residents of Via Laietana and Barceloneta, in addition to a segregated bike lane next to the sidewalk, while in the downtown direction there will be a shared lane for buses and bicycles and a lane open to private traffic with a speed limit of 30 km/h.

renovacion via laietana foto ajbcn (5)

The future Via Laietana will have more space for pedestrians / AjBCN

Tramway along Avinguda Diagonal
(work begins March 2022)
Barcelona under construction: Colau digs up the city, 15 months before elections

Another major challenge for the current municipal government - strongly opposed by the opposition - has been the connection of the two tram networks, TramBaix and TramBesos, via Avinguda Diagonal. This week it has been announced that the works on the Glòries-Verdaguer section will begin around March 7th with the aim of completing them at the end of 2023 and bringing the trams into use in 2024. That is, by the mayoral elections, the work would be well advanced, but the entry into service would be pending for the next term, as well as the executive decision on whether or not to carry out the other two planned sections, from Verdaguer to Cinc d'Oros first, and between this plaça and Francesc Macià later. Given the historic opposition to this tramway connection, a different municipal government would be likely to halt construction on the remaining sections.

20160609 Edifici la Caixa, tramvia Barcelona   Sergi Alcàzar

The connection of the tramway along the central sections of the Diagonal does not enjoy consensual support / Sergi Alcàzar

Transformation of the Port Olímpic
(work begins April 2022)
Barcelona under construction: Colau digs up the city, 15 months before elections

The current Port Olímpic has remained as a decadent reminder of the 1992 Olympic euphoria and is one of the infrastructures which is most in need of renovation. The transformation of the facility will begin in April at the Mestral wharf, that is, the entire area which was occupied until recently by nightclubs, which will be rebuilt to house new sustainable economic activities related to the sea. The brief, first stage of work will be completed in the first quarter of 2023, again just before the elections, but it is part of an extensive six-year programme.

Mestral cota moll lateral ajbcn

The rebuilt Port Olímpic / AjBCN Mestral Pier

Green axes of the Eixample
(work begins June 2022)
Barcelona under construction: Colau digs up the city, 15 months before elections

The highlight of the reconstruction work in the last 15 months of this current council term will be the conversion into green axes of four streets in the heart of the Eixample: Consell de Cent, Girona, Comte Borrell and Rocafort, which will mark the culmination of the Superilla Barcelona model in the city centre. At the same time, this work is questioned not only by the opposition political parties, but also by organizations such as the RACC automobile association and the employers' association Foment del Treball. Although the plan is for a total transformation of the streets - the work will basically take place at surface level, the total duration of the work will be eight months, so it should be completed in early 2023, a few months before the municipal elections. However, it needs to be remembered that this work is only a first phase of a project with a 2030 horizon that plans for the creation of 21 green axes (33 km) and 21 squares that would generate 33.4 hectares of pedestrian space and 6.6 hectares of urban green area. The only thing assured, though, is that this first phase will be completed, within this current council term. Beyond that, the polls will decide the continuation of a hotly-debated transformation.

Eix Borrell General superilla eixample ajbcn

Virtual image of Carrer Borrell / AjBCN

Pi i Margall
(work begins June 2022)
Barcelona under construction: Colau digs up the city, 15 months before elections

In June, work will also begin on renovating Carrer de Pi i Margall, which will go from having six lanes for cars - including parking lanes - to having only two to turn this 30-metre-wide road into a green axis, in line with the Superilla Barcelona model. The roadway currently occupies two-thirds of the width of the street, but the redevelopment plan envisages reversing the proportion and giving seventy percent of the space to pedestrians, while the road will be reduced to one lane for buses and local traffic plus a new segregated bike lane in an uphill direction, while on the downhill there will be a shared lane for buses, local traffic and bicycles, a model similar to that planned - and criticized - for Via Laietana. The expected duration is 17 months, so the work should be completed by November 2023, to be opened during the term of the next council.

calle pi i margall google street view

Carrer Pi i Margall today / Google Street View

Remodelling of La Rambla
(work begins 2022, no firm date)
Barcelona under construction: Colau digs up the city, 15 months before elections

The comprehensive remodelling of La Rambla is planned as a long-term project. Although it is planned to start this year, the exact date is still unknown, and it is estimated that the top section of the famous pedestrian boulevard, where the old animal and bird sellers used to be, will not be undertaken until 2028 and, as in other major works, the future of the transformation will depend on future municipal governments - in this case, even from the result of the 2027 elections! In any case, for the time being, the intention is to start the redevelopment of the section closest to the sea, on the Rambla de Santa Mònica between the Portal de la Pau and the Portal del Santa Madrona.

Projecte La Rambla

The remodelling of the Rambla will begin at the Portal de la Pau / AjBCN

Municipal markets
(some underway, some pending)
Barcelona under construction: Colau digs up the city, 15 months before elections

The reform of the city's municipal markets is one of the very long-term works. In fact, it has been running for decades and has gone from mandate to mandate, making its way across town. The Mercat de la Concepció market, for example, was renovated between 1996 and 1998, and the Sant Antoni market between 2009 and 2018. There are currently several underway. The one in Sant Andreu should be ready in May, while the one in the Abaceria, in Gràcia, has been under construction since 2018 and is still a long way off. For the future, there are the markets of Horta, which has yet to start and will not be ready before 2024, and Montserrat, in Nou Barris, which should also be finished in two years, under the next council term.

mercado montserrat nou barris ajbcn

The future market of Montserrat, in Roquetes / AjBCN