The light at the end of the Glòries tunnel is now visible. After years of delays and cost overruns, this essential infrastructure for the city's mobility will open at the end of 2021. In September, the tunnel will become operational in the Besòs direction and, shortly after, in the Llobregat direction, between late November and early December.
"Everything has been done on time," stated the Deputy Mayor for Urban Planning, Janet Sanz, during a visit to the works. Accompanied by the Mayor of Barcelona, Ada Colau, and the general director of Bimsa, Ángel Sánchez, the progress of the works was confirmed. "We are not presenting a tunnel, we are presenting a message of the future: the city is moving forward," added Colau.
With more than 85% of the works executed, the final details of the civil engineering work remain pending, such as the paving of the tunnel and the completion of the installation walls and sidewalks that run inside the tunnel, which begins on Castillejos street and reaches the Poblenou rambla. The installations and finishes of the infrastructure also need to be completed. The final budget for these works, which began in 2015, will be around 190 million euros.
Getting here has not been easy. Beyond the process itself, with two awards, the Glòries tunnel is one of the most technically difficult works carried out in the city, with some sections at a depth of 25 meters below the plaza's ground level. In addition, it has been built below existing railway infrastructures: the L1 metro tunnel; the R2 Rodalies tunnel; and the R1, R3, and R4 tunnels. This has involved constructing the new road tunnel through a process of excavation by successive advances, with the aim of guaranteeing minimal deformation of the upper railway tunnels and not affecting their structure. It has also been excavated below several collectors of the sewage network and service galleries.
At a technical level, the future Glòries tunnel consists of two independent tubes with one-way traffic, with two lanes for private vehicles and one for public transport in each direction. It will be the first bus lane enabled in a city tunnel, with the same scheme for both exit and entry, Sanz remarked, allowing continuity to the one already existing at the city entrance and extending it to Rambla del Poblenou at the exit. It also has a total length of 957 meters, which increases to 1,156 meters if access ramps are included.
Focus on the new green Glòries square
The new tunnel will be key to channeling Gran Via traffic, but it will also allow the creation of a meeting space between the different neighborhoods that converge in this square, historically divided and segregated by the road ring. Glòries square will be transformed into a large green lung for the city, free of cars and with public facilities and housing.
The first phase of the new park was inaugurated in April 2019, incorporating 20,400 square meters of green space. This 2021, the development of the rest of the park continues to advance, with the approval of the plan that urbanistically develops the square's space located between Castillejos, Badajoz-Independencia, Consell de Cent streets, and the Canòpia park. The document orders the uses of this area and locates public facilities, housing, and green areas, gaining two hectares. The urbanization project for the tram route in the section between Castillejos and Badajoz streets, as it passes through Glòries square, has also been approved.