Rumble strips and reversible lanes: the government's plan to reduce head-on collisions on the road

BarcelonaA quarter of the 39 fatal traffic accidents that occurred in the first three months of the year were head-on collisions. In this quarter, 41 people died, 46% more than in the same period in 2024, according to data released this Tuesday by the Catalan Traffic Service, the same day the Catalan government announced a €131 million investment to prevent head-on collisions. The plan, which will be rolled out over two years, includes installing rumble strips along 700 kilometers of the road network and 76 kilometers of reversible lanes on single-lane roads.

The road renovation work planned through 2026 will be divided into 16 projects and 11 routes. It will involve widening some sections of ordinary roads to three lanes to facilitate safe overtaking, with the aim of avoiding up to 40% of head-on collisions. The first bid will be made in the coming days and will cover 3.3 kilometers of the C-12, between Tivissa and Móra la Nova, in the Ribera d'Ebre region. The works are part of the 2+1 program, conceived by Pere Aragonès's administration, which plans to work on a total of 425 kilometers of road network by 2030, with a cost of €666 million. Between 2025 and 2026, 33.2 kilometers are planned: on the C-12, between Amposta and Vinallop, and on the C-37, between Manlleu and Torelló. Next year, work will be done on the C-63 in Vidreres, on two sections of the C-55, between Manresa and Callús, and also on the C-31, in Vilanova i la Geltrú.

The plan aims to "improve safety and reduce head-on collisions," explained the Regional Minister for Territory, Silvia Paneque, at the press conference following the meeting of the Governing Council.

Furthermore, also in line with this goal of reducing accidents, rumble strips will be installed along the axes of 700 kilometers of roads. These new technology will replace the paint used until now and is already being tested on a section of the highway in Organyà. Paneque justified these measures because "accident rates are also closely linked to distractions." Once the program is completed, 151.8 kilometers of the C-12 will have this technology, along with 54.1 kilometers of the C-31 and 46.3 kilometers of the C-55, and 32 other roads. For now, the 2+1 program has already launched on the C-15 between the towns of Vilafranca del Penedès and Cabrera de Anoia and on the Banyoles bypass; in addition, a 4.5-kilometer section of the C-35 is underway, between Sant Celoni and Riells y Viabrea.

The initiative seeks to reduce fatal accidents by between 80% and 100% at all planned points. Territorio specifies that 40% of head-on collisions on conventional roads in the Generalitat (Catalan Government) are due to distraction as the sole factor, and 20% are due to distraction as a concurrent factor. The 2+1 program also aims to improve traffic flow.

Dismay in Bages

The announcement of the 2+1 sections has surprised Bages because there is no mention of it on the C-55, the Eix del Llobregat, although the The Government had committed to including this route in the plan to reduce the high accident rate."We will not cease in our demands," stated Sílvia Gratacós, president of the Manresa Chamber of Commerce and a member of the Platform for the Widening of the C-55. The platform views the widening as a matter of "justice" and maintains that it is "justified." As the regional ministry announced, they are confident that the information study will be ready before the summer.