The covering of the Ronda de Dalt as it passes through the Barcelona district of Horta-Guinardó, in the Vall d'Hebron area, is progressing. The City Council plans to start work on a new section in the second quarter of 2024, and for the structural work to be completed in 2027. After that, the new surface will be urbanized to open it to residents, who have been demanding the covering of the Ronda for years. The road opened three decades ago, creating a divide in the area that residents demand be reconnected.
Specifically, it is a 340-meter section between Avenida Vallcarca and the Institut Vall d'Hebron. In this phase, the covered surface will be larger than the previous one, which was 200 meters between the Mercat de la Vall d'Hebron and the educational center. Thus, the two phases will add up to 540 meters, which will especially benefit residents of the Sant Genís dels Agudells and La Teixonera neighborhoods.
The urbanization of the new space will be defined in a subsequent project independent of the structural works. The characteristics and uses of the new promenade will be addressed within the framework of the city pact with entities and political groups launched at the end of September. The objective of this pact is to study the transformation of the infrastructure's surroundings, opened in the early 90s with an eye on the 1992 Olympic Games.
The structural works included in the project that will now be processed will have a budget of 17.75 million euros. To this will be added the cost of the tunnel installations and the urbanization. The City Council estimates that the total cost will be around 40 million euros, 33 of which will be allocated during this mandate.
Neighborhood demand
The covering of the Ronda de Dalt in the northern part of the Horta-Guinardó district is a historical demand of the residents of the area. The infrastructure was covered in neighborhoods such as Canyelles, Bon Pastor, and Baró de Viver, and it remains to close the gap it represents for neighborhoods such as Montbau, Vall d'Hebron, Sant Genís, and La Teixonera, by covering the Ronda. Even more complicated for residents of the Mundet and Vallcarca areas, where the infrastructure runs at the same level as the surface, so it is not underground and cannot be covered.
The section already executed was promoted during the first term of former mayor Ada Colau. Neighborhood entities considered the covered section insufficient despite celebrating the start of the coverage, which now continues with the socialist Jaume Collboni as mayor.