Urban Planning, Ecological Transition, Urban Services and Housing

Bikes and personal mobility vehicles are used for 220,000 journeys in the city every day, an 11% increase compared to last year and a 23% rise compared to before the pandemic. The increase comes in parallel to the expansion and improvement of the city’s cycling network.

The goal is a cyclable network covering 272.6 kilometres by the end of this year. Work was completed on nine sections of bike lanes in 2022 and these are now in service. These projects have added 7.32 kilometres of lanes and improvements have been made to another 4.66 kilometres of the cycling network. These completed sections carry an overall average volume of over 24,000 uses a day. They are:

• Bike lane in Carrer Manso, between Comte Borrell and Av. Paral·lel: segregated one-way lane on the side nearest the sea, improving the connection between the old quarter of Ciutat Vella and Av. Paral·lel, through the Sant Antoni Superblock.
• Bike lane in Carrer Sants, between Riera Blanca and Arizala: segregated one-way lane to give continuity to the metropolitan cycling path linking Esplugues, L’Hospitalet de Llobregat and Barcelona through Carretera de Collblanc.
• Bike lane in Av. Meridiana, between Mallorca and Josep Estivill: two-way segregated lane located in the central section and connecting with the bike lane from the first section of the remodelled Av. Meridiana between Glòries and Mallorca.
• Bike lane in the central section of Av. Diagonal, between Passeig de Gràcia and Passeig de Sant Joan: the bike: bike lane shifted from the pavement onto the road surface to gain safety and comfort, regaining pavements for pedestrians and, in parallel, two segregated one-way bike lanes in the two side lanes.
• Bike lane in Av. Diagonal, between Pius XII and the business faculty: bike lane shifted onto the road surface in some sections and a new segregated two-way bike lane created in others. A new section has been created on the pavement in front of the Jardins de Pedralbes, shared with pedestrians at the entrance to the gardens.
• Bike lane in Gran Via de les Corts Catalanes, between Pau Claris and Marina: current lane shifted from the pavement into the road surface, regaining it for pedestrians and creating two new segregated bike lanes along the side section of the road surface. This transformation allows for improvements to the connection with the bike lanes in the streets of Girona and Sicília.

Four more sections in progress

Elsewhere, the cycling network will get four new lanes which are to be completed this year:

• Bike lane in Av. Vallcarca, between Esteve Terradas and Plaça de Lesseps: this will be a segregated one-way lane running right next to the pavement in the downward direction, while heading upwards bikes will get a lane to share with traffic. This project completes the cycling route in Av. Vallcarca and will connect with Vila de Gràcia, Passeig de la Vall d’Hebron and Plaça d’Alfonso Comín, also connecting the city with Collserola.
• Bike lane in Av. Diagonal, between Escola Universitària d’Empresarials and Parc de Cervantes: two-way bike lane providing continuity and connecting the bike lane in Esplugues with the completed bike lane in Av. Diagonal, between Plaça Pius XII and the business school, boosting metropolitan connections.
• Bike lane in the streets of Cantàbria and Santander, between the streets of Menorca and Ca n’Oliva: two one-way segregated bike lanes on each side of the street, right next to the pavements and with their own traffic lights. This forms part of a long stretch through the neighbourhood of La Verneda i la Pau, connecting the neighbourhoods of Poblenou and La Sagrera, as well as the industrial estates of Montsolís, in Sant Adrià del Besòs.
• Bike lane in Via Augusta: new section of bike lane between the streets of Laforja (or Av. Riera de Cassoles) and Ganduxer, and between Ganduxer and Dolors Monserdà. The project gains a new cycling route in Via Augusta, connecting the district of Sarrià-Sant Gervasi with L’Eixample.

Five upcoming works

Work will get under way on five more sections of the cycling network early in the year:

• Bike lane in Carrer Mallorca, between the streets of Clot and Cartagena: new segregated one-way lane linking the bike lane from Carrer Clot with the section of bike lane in Carrer Mallorca. This will be the configuration for a new horizontal route crossing the city in the direction of the Llobregat river, linking the neighbourhood of El Clot with Sants station through L’Eixample.
• Bike lane in Carrer Independència, between Av. Meridiana and Sant Antoni Maria Claret: one-way lane heading uphill towards the mountains. This will create a vertical route from the Parc de la Canòpia (Av. Meridiana – Gran Via), with the section of bike lane in Sant Antoni Maria Claret.
• Bike lane in Gran Via de les Corts Catalanes, between Plaça Espanya and Plaça Cerdà: one-way segregated bike lane in each direction along the side lanes. This will improve the existing cycling connection between the neighbourhoods of Esquerra de l’Eixample and Poble-sec with the western part of Sants-Montjuïc.
• Bike lane in Passeig Maragall-Rosselló-Freser: two new segregated one-way bike lanes. This is the first section of the bike lane for Passeig Maragall, connecting with the lanes in the streets of Indústria, Sant Antoni Maria Claret, Teodor Llorente and Olesa.
• Bike lane in Ronda Sant Pere, between Girona and Roger de Llúria: segregated two-way bike lane giving continuity to the current lane in Ronda de Sant Pere and enabling users to get from Arc de Triomf to Plaça Urquinaona.

The sections currently being worked on and those to be started soon are being funded with the EU’s Next Generation funding, except for the second stage of the bike lane in Via Augusta, which is being funded through the participatory budget.