One lane of the AP-7 motorway will be opened tomorrow from 2 pm southbound in Martorell

BarcelonaThe opening of one lane of the AP-7 southbound motorway in Martorell will take place this Saturday starting at 2 p.m., once the holiday exodus has ended. It will be the leftmost lane, after technicians from the Ministry of Transport, who were assessing the embankment that collapsed and caused a fatal train accident on the R4 line, confirmed that opening it is "perfectly safe," as the collapse occurred on the outer edge of the embankment and not on the motorway itself. The other two lanes, the rightmost ones, will remain closed, and their reopening is a matter of "days," explained Ramon Lamiel, Director General of the Catalan Traffic Service, on Friday. For the time being, drivers are asked to continue using alternative routes to avoid a "bottleneck effect." The Ministry of Transport indicated that the reopening was carried out at the request of the Catalan government (Generalitat), following a meeting with the Minister of Territory, Silvia Paneque. The road was closed Wednesday afternoon near Martorell, southbound, at the request of the Ministry of Transport due to track instability following the collapse of a retaining wall that caused the Gelida train accident, leaving one dead and 37 injured. This Friday, workers began installing barriers to separate one lane, the one closest to the northbound lanes and furthest from the railway tracks. This work is taking place at kilometer 177 and extends for 400 meters, the point where the train accident occurred and which coincides with the highway. Speaking to the media, Lamiel explained that they decided to reopen the road at 2:00 PM because this would allow the peak of the weekend travel period to pass. The Director General of Traffic also explained that since the AP-7 motorway was closed, the C-32 has seen a doubling of its average daily traffic, as the Catalan government has lifted the toll at least until Wednesday. Specifically, traffic has increased from 60,000 to 120,000 vehicles. Therefore, he emphasized that the alternative routes currently being offered (including the N-340 and the A-2) are "good and recommended" for distributing traffic and avoiding "very long queues."

Return of hazardous goods

The decision to reopen the section of the AP-7 motorway was made after the Catalan Traffic Service (Trànsit) met with technicians from the Ministry of Transport on Friday. According to Lamiel, the meeting confirmed that the left lane of the motorway was "preserved" from the landslide and that there were guarantees it could be reopened safely. "The left lane is especially safe after the explanations we received and after reviewing all the images," he explained. The images clearly showed that the slope that collapsed was not under the motorway. The reopening of one lane of the AP-7 southbound in Martorell will also allow the transport of hazardous materials to return to the motorway. Lamiel explained that these types of trucks must travel on roads without tunnels and outside of populated areas. "The AP-7 offers better service and, therefore, provides us with peace of mind regarding road safety," he concluded. During the opening, Mossos d'Esquadra officers and ministry technicians will be present in case there are "any details" that need adjusting.