The Port of Barcelona will tender for €98M the large road junction of the new accesses

BarcelonaThe board of directors of the Port of Barcelona has initiated in its meeting this Wednesday the tender process for 98 million euros for the large road junction that will connect the new accesses with the road network of the port precinct, as reported by the Port Authority. The project consists of the construction of a large elevated roundabout over the old mouth of the Llobregat River, which will structure vehicle mobility in the southern area of the port precinct.

This link, which should begin construction in 2027 after 19 years of delay, will become the most important road infrastructure of the Port of Barcelona, because it will allow absorbing the increase in traffic derived from the construction of the new road accesses to the port precinct and the future Catalunya quay, as well as the expansion of the facilities at Prat quay, which will concentrate almost all of the port's container traffic in the southern area.

The new infrastructure will be compatible with the important railway complex that will be developed in the old Llobregat riverbed. At the same time, it includes the construction of a large service gallery to allow interconnection under the junction and all the railway infrastructure. For this reason, an elevated roundabout with three large entry and exit lanes has been chosen. The first will connect with the future motorway access to the port; the second will connect with the container terminals in the south area, and the third, with the terminals north of the old estuary.

This last lane will be provisional, as the definitive connection with the north area of the port, in the form of an elevated viaduct, will have to be carried out once the future berth type 35B pontoon is built, which conditions the necessary spaces for the development of this section.

Due to the cost of the works, with a budget exceeding 98 million euros excluding VAT and an execution period of three and a half years, the tender process will have to be approved by the Council of Ministers.

The railway and road access to the Port of Barcelona are some of the major pending infrastructures in Catalonia that have accumulated almost two decades of delay, and are key to the movement of goods arriving and leaving the port. The different Spanish governments kept announcing these works without them ever progressing, until in 2024 the Council of Ministers approved carrying them out with an approximate budget of 730 million euros.