Only three lanes and restrictions in the mountain direction: this is how traffic will be handled on the new Via Laietana.

BarcelonaThree years, 38 million euros, and many hours of debate later, the new Via Laietana is about to see the light of day. Barcelona City Council has called a civic celebration for its inauguration on Sunday, June 29th. The following day, Monday the 30th, vehicles will once again be able to circulate on this road, which in these three years will have gone from having five lanes for traffic to just three, gaining space for pedestrians with wider sidewalks and prioritizing the passage of public transport and bicycles.

These three years of construction have meant that many vehicles have become accustomed to seeking alternative routes to a Via Laietana that has often been congested. Now we will have to see the impact its reopening has on traffic in the city center. However, vehicles wishing to use it must be aware of some restrictions. Thus, while private vehicles will be able to travel in one of the two lanes heading towards the sea without any restrictions other than the speed limit of 30 kilometers per hour, private vehicle traffic will be much more restricted in the single lane heading towards the mountains.

As planned, in addition to buses on lines 47 and 120, only residents of the Sant Pere, Santa Caterina, Ribera, and Barceloneta neighborhoods, taxis departing or arriving within the restricted traffic area, parking lot users, vehicle repair establishments and hotels, the Santa Caterina Market, and freight delivery vehicles will be allowed to use the mountain lane. However, these vehicles will be allowed during restricted hours and only as far as Plaça Antoni Maura.

Cameras will be deployed to combat offenders.

As is already the case on La Rambla, after the summer, a license plate camera system will be implemented to ensure that vehicles entering Via Laietana from the mountains remain in a parking lot or at the market. For other vehicles, the alternative route will be, as before, via Passeig Picasso or Passeig Lluís Companys, a route that, according to municipal technical studies made public at the start of the works, only adds between one and three minutes to the route.

One of the controversial aspects of the Via Layetana renovation that will now be tested is the space for bicycles. Heading towards the sea, they will share the lane with buses and taxis, while heading towards the mountains will have a segregated bike lane, which, however, will be occasionally interrupted by buses when they need to enter and exit at stops along Via Laietana.

Speaking to reporters, First Deputy Mayor Laia Bonet celebrated the city's approaching launch of what she called one of the "greatest transformations" Barcelona has undergone in recent years. A remodeling that, she said, should ensure Via Laietana is no longer a street "one you don't want to walk down."