After months of delay, the Generalitat and the Central Government have finally closed the agreement for the North Roundabout, the route of the B-40 road designed to improve the connection between Terrassa, Sabadell and Castellar del Vallès. At the same time, Moncloa also undertakes to transfer more than 900 million so that the Catalan Executive allocates them to the improvement of other infrastructures.
The signature should have been stamped before March 31, but several disagreements have led to a definitive agreement not being reached until this weekend. In any case, the two parties have shaken hands, but the rubric of the protocol is missing. It is scheduled for the beginning of this week.
Although the project left Juli Fernández touched to the point that he ceased his position as Councilor of Territory, the negotiations between the two parties have passed without stridency, with a certain normality, despite the last condition sine qua non that put the Catalan Government on the table: that the Executive of Pedro Sánchez comply with the transfer of the 914 million euros agreed with ERC in exchange for facilitating the approval of the current general budgets.
For several weeks, both the Spanish and Catalan governments had stated that there were still some loopholes to close. The Government of the Generalitat demanded to be limited to the terms of the agreement sealed within the framework of the Catalan budgets agreed with the PSC, and demanded, among others, that the expression “via d’alta” be deleted from the wording capacity”, which also prevents the document from talking about a double track for each direction of travel.
Equally, there is no reference to the name B-40, a bypass road project for the Barcelona metropolitan area that was planned decades ago and only has some sections in service. The Catalan Cabinet wanted to avoid any interpretation that would allow the extension of the route beyond Terrassa or Sabadell. In fact, the PSC, which demanded the Northern round to approve the budgets of the Generalitat for 2023, has fought for it to be extended to Granollers.
Thirdly, the central government insisted during the negotiations that the project be financed with the money of the third additional provision of the Statute, which marks an investment between 2007 and 2013 according to the percentage of GDP that Catalonia contributed to the state. It is a historic debt that the central government has contracted with the Generalitat and that the Supreme Court ruled that it should be paid. Finally, the financing of the North round will not start from this statutory point, as demanded by the Government of Pere Aragonès.
With respect to the other agreement, that of 914 million for other infrastructures, this is an amount that the central government undertakes to transfer to the Generalitat so that the latter can carry out the works. Roughly speaking, 384 million euros will be allocated to update the C-32 in the Maresme; 250 million for AP-7 and AP-2 accesses; for the Pirinenc axis road, the N-260, which needs 260 million. Finally, another 20 million will be dedicated to new interchanges between the R8, of the Rodalies train network, with the Railways network of the Generalitat de Catalunya.
In more detail, the Catalan Government intends to carry out several actions to improve the connectivity of the C-32 with its surroundings, with new links and the improvement of connections with the N-II. Roundabouts, the dismantling of toll areas, the pacification of several sections of the N-II and bike lanes, as well as the construction of acoustic barriers or the installation of photovoltaic panels, among other actions, have been planned.
Regarding AP-7 and AP-2, remodeling is planned in multiple links, as well as the construction of new connections with other roads and towns.
All in all, with the agreement of the protocol to the North round project, there is still one more signature left to sign: the implementation agreement. The Generalitat and the central government have agreed that the drafting of the project is the responsibility of the Catalan Executive. It will be the latter that will decide the final route, constructions such as tunnels (if necessary), the number of lanes per direction and other issues.
