How will the departure of the Tour de France affect mobility in Catalonia?

BarcelonaBarcelona is warming up its engines for the start of the Tour de France, which will start from the Catalan capital for the first time. The race will begin on July 4 with a team time trial finishing in Montjuïc, covering 19.7 km, starting from the seafront and passing through iconic city points such as the Sagrada Família, Passeig de Gràcia, and Barceloneta beach. The second stage will be on Sunday, July 5, starting from Tarragona and arriving in Barcelona after 178 km, passing through Torredembarra, Sitges, El Garraf, an demanding uphill section to Begues, and three short but explosive climbs to Montjuïc Castle after entering Barcelona with a route modified due to the swine fever outbreak in Collserola. The third stage, on Monday, July 6, will start from Granollers and head through Centelles, Vic, Ripoll, and will reach the Pyrenees with the Collada de Toses as an attractive point, before seeing the cyclists head towards French territory, with the destination being the finish in Les Angles.

The Barcelona City Council has prepared an extensive operation that guarantees mobility when the Grand Départ, as the start of the race has been nicknamed, arrives. The council recommends using the metro to travel around the city and will reinforce its service by between 30% and 40%. In total, six out of ten districts will be affected, especially Eixample, Sants-Montjuïc, and Sant Martí, where the main routes and activities of a race that will attract thousands of people will be concentrated. According to the City Council, a crowd similar to that of a Three Kings' Day parade is expected.

How will it affect the city?

During the days of the Tour, getting around the city will be different. The race circuits will be completely closed to traffic, which will create a physical barrier that cannot be crossed outside of designated points. The idea is to have marked points where citizens can cross to the other side of the route with the help of volunteers who will provide information. The Tour will involve restrictions on private vehicle access to areas closest to the route, as well as parking prohibitions on many streets for days in advance, duly signposted. At all times, however, the mobility of emergency services will be guaranteed, with specific routes made available.

On July 2nd, the first closures

On July 2nd, the team presentation will take place. The impact will be centered around the Sagrada Família and Gaudí Avenue, which will be closed to traffic along with adjacent streets. In this area, access to parking lots will be restricted, public space will be reorganized, and mobility will be mainly on foot within the perimeter. Additionally, restaurants and bars will not be able to have terraces on Gaudí Avenue, as the teams will parade from the modernist Sant Pau hospital to the Sagrada Família through the center of the avenue.

Traffic disruptions will begin on the night of the 1st on Gaudí Avenue with the placement of protective barriers and with definitive traffic closures from 2:00 PM onwards. The main event will take place between 6:30 PM and 8:00 PM, and the progressive reopening will begin from 9:30 PM.

The time trial on the 4th, the most problematic moment

On July 4, the team time trial will cross the city from Parc del Fòrum to Montjuïc, affecting some of the main road arteries: Litoral Avenue, streets such as Bac de Roda, Llull and Josep Pla in Sant Martí, and structural routes in Eixample and Sant Martí such as Rambla Guipúscoa, Aragó street, Passeig de Gràcia and Mallorca or Lepant streets. The route will continue towards Tarragona street, Plaça d'Espanya and Maria Cristina, until reaching Montjuïc. It will be the most complicated day, as the teams will travel the city from end to end, dividing it in two.

The disruptions will begin around 12:00 PM, with the total closure of the circuit at 1:30 PM. The most restrictive period will be between 4:00 PM and 7:30 PM, coinciding with the development of the race, and normality will be gradually restored from 8:30 PM.

Regarding the Ronda Litoral, there will be temporary closures and limitations at various access and exit points, mainly in the Besòs direction, to ensure the safety of the route and avoid interference with the sporting event. The entrances and exits of exit 26 will remain operational in both directions, but exit 25 in the Besòs direction will be closed, while the entrance at the same point will remain open. Additionally, entrances and exits 23 and 24 in the Besòs direction will be closed, thus limiting connectivity in this section. In the Llobregat direction, exit 24 (with restricted functionality, directed only towards Parc del Fòrum and Diagonal Mar) and entrance 24 will remain open.

Entrance 23 in the Llobregat direction will also be open, although practically isolated, with limited use for residual traffic. In contrast, exit 23 in the Llobregat direction will be closed. Finally, the entrances and exits of exit 22 will remain open in both directions.

On July 5th, fewer neighborhoods affected

On July 5, with the arrival of the second stage, the entrance will be made via Collblanc road and will continue along Travessera de les Corts, Carrer de Sants and Creu Coberta street, until Plaça d'Espanya. From here, the activity will focus on Montjuïc, with effects on roads such as Paral·lel Avenue, Montjuïc promenade, Miramar Avenue or Montjuïc road.

The restrictions will also begin at 12:00 p.m., with full closure at 1:30 p.m. Between 3:45 p.m. and 5:45 p.m., Montjuïc mountain will be practically isolated, and circulation will be restored from 6:00 p.m.

Crossing points

To ensure people's mobility, a network of over 50 pedestrian crossing points will be set up along the entire route, duly signposted and with support staff. These points will be distributed so that there is always a crossing option within a five-minute walk, although during the race they may be temporarily regulated or closed. The system incorporates both controlled surface crossings and temporary elevated bridges, which will allow pedestrians to cross safely without interfering with the progress of the race.

The elevated crossings are modular, lightweight, and temporary structures, with sufficient height to allow emergency vehicles and public transport to pass, if necessary. In parallel, the surface crossings have delimited and controlled waiting areas, which allow for the organization of pedestrian flows and prevent accumulations on the road during peak times.

The metro service, reinforced

The Barcelona City Council and TMB recommend using the metro to get around the city on July 2, 4, and 5, when the usual service will be increased by up to 40%, a reinforcement that will be particularly important on lines 1 and 5. Regarding metro disruptions, on July 2, trains on L2 will not stop at Sagrada Família station from midday, due to the direct impact of the team presentation event at the entrances to this line and for safety reasons. In contrast, the Sagrada Família station on L5 will be fully operational, and the service will be increased with up to nine more trains in the afternoon.

Regarding buses, numerous lines will be affected and will adapt their routes to the stages and the team presentation event. Specifically, there will be eleven lines on the 4th and three on the 5th that will be out of service.

Major impact on the Catalan road network on July 5 and 6

Beyond Barcelona, the Tour's passage through Catalonia will affect about sixty municipalities and a dozen roads. Mossos, Trànsit, and about twenty municipalities, in coordination with 13 departments of the Generalitat, have prepared a large-scale security and mobility operation that encompasses July 2, 4, 5, and 6, when all the cycling activity will take place.

The police operation will have 4,500 personnel: 3,600 Mossos d'Esquadra, nearly 900 agents from the Guardia Urbana, and various municipal police forces. Regarding mobility impacts, July 5 and 6 will be critical for the Catalan road network.

On Sunday, July 5, the stage between Tarragona and Barcelona will cause disruptions on the N-340 and C-31 for a large part of the afternoon. For this reason, the AP-7 will be reinforced with an additional lane in the northbound direction between Vilafranca del Penedès and Barcelona, and the toll on the C-32 will be lifted between 11 AM and 4 PM, with the possibility of extending this time frame if necessary.

Regarding Monday, July 6, a working day, the stage between Granollers and the Pyrenees will cause disruptions on the C-352, C-59, C-17, C-37, C-25, N-260 and other roads between 12 and 4 p.m. The most serious disruption will occur in Ripollès, with road isolation of Ribes, Planoles, Toses and La Molina that will last approximately four hours.

The alternative mobility proposed by Trànsit involves the use of the C-17 in the downward direction from Les Masies de Voltregà, as well as the N-240, AP-2, C-15, A-2, C-16, A-27 and T-11.

Reinforced railways and significant diversions on the interurban bus network

Thursday 2, Saturday 4 and Sunday 5 July reinforcements are expected on the lines of Ferrocarrils de la Generalitat de Catalunya (FGC). On July 2, 4 and 5, FGC will reinforce the Barcelona-Vallès section with an additional train per hour on lines S1 and S2. On the 4th and 5th, it will also reinforce the Barcelona-Llobregat-Anoia section with double trains on lines R5, R6 and L8.

Regarding interurban buses, the Secretary of Mobility, Manel Nadal, detailed that on Saturday 4 and Sunday 5 July all interurban bus lines will enter via the Ronda Litoral to the Estació del Nord, so the stops on Diagonal, Gran Via and Passeig de Gràcia will be cancelled.

Regarding the Llobregat, Garraf and Vallès lines, diversions and suspensions are expected. During Monday 6 July, service interruptions are expected in Osona and Ripollès, as well as a massive disruption in Granollers, where the bus station will be out of service for a large part of the day.