After many years and delays, the works to reform La Rambla have begun. Workers and cranes arrived this Monday at the city's most emblematic thoroughfare, affected by multiple defects, such as damaged pavement, holes in the asphalt where cars circulate, abandoned telephone booths, or electricity network cabinets in poor condition.
The works will focus on converting the artery into a more comfortable, green, and cultural promenade, with more space for pedestrians, better organization of uses, relocating newsstands and flower stalls, and more leisure proposals. "The goal is for Barcelonans to go back to ramblear (strolling along La Rambla)," said the Deputy Mayor for Urban Planning, Janet Sanz, during a visit to the works, "one of the most important in the city."
The reform will be divided into a total of five phases, and the City Council estimates that all of them will be ready before 2030. The first phase, with an estimated duration of 18 months, will focus on the section between the Columbus monument and the Portal de Santa Madrona. Approximately 23,000 square meters will be acted upon, extending the promenade, improving the connection with Avenida de Drassanes, and creating a new square. "We will stop seeing the Columbus monument as a roundabout," Sanz explained, adding that this action will also allow the promenade to open up to the port.
In the first phase, which started this Monday, a total of 10 million euros will be invested, a figure that will rise to 44.56 million euros for the entire reform.
The president of Amics de la Rambla, Fermín Villar, celebrated the start of the works but regretted that they arrived "so late," considering that they have been requesting them since 2013 and the approval of the special plan occurred in 2017. "Despite the delays, the start of the works is not accompanied by a modification of the calendar to make up for lost time," he stated. According to Villar, the calendar that the association installed above the Cafè de la Ópera to highlight the delays will remain until the works are finished. So far, it has already counted 2,312 days.
A Rambla with fewer cars and more green space
The reform of La Rambla will mean reducing the space allocated for vehicle circulation. Cars will have a single lane on each side, 3.5 meters wide. This reduction will allow the side sidewalks to grow, which will become a minimum of 3 meters wide, with the aim of making it easier to walk calmly in front of the shops and establishments that surround the promenade. The central part will also be widened on both sides, allowing for an improvement in both pedestrian space and the space for trees, which will see their tree pits grow.
In the new artery, the space allocated for vehicle circulation will be reducedThe sidewalk and the road will be located at the same level and will only be separated by bollards. On this promenade that will go from facade to facadenew rest areas will be created under the trees and there will be benches and chairs on the sides of the central section and under the shade of the trees. Vehicle traffic will be restricted to residents, access to parking lots, bicycles, buses, goods distribution, and service vehicles, as is currently the case in the uphill direction. Likewise, three intersections will be redefined, becoming single-platform squares, located in the Moja-Betlem areas, Pla de la Boqueria, and Pla del Teatre.
One of the elements that will also be transformed will be the pavement that has given it character but causes many maintenance problems. The new one, which will no longer be accompanied by the asphalt of the sidewalks, will have pieces of different formats of natural stone, granite, and porphyry. The lighting will be another element that will change, moving to a simpler and more functional unique design.
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