The new municipal government has decided to put an end to one of the symbols of the Colau era: tactical urbanism. The operators have already started to erase the painted patches on the asphalt closest to the sidewalk on the sea side of Carrer Pelai. In a matter of a week, the space that in recent years had been exclusive to pedestrians – and where bikes and scooters circulated, although they could not do so – will be used for loading and unloading and for parking bikes and motorbikes In a way, it will return to the appearance it had before, although without recovering the traffic lane that the cars lost with the tactical transformation.
The paint copy extension of the sidewalk in one of the city’s prime commercial streets was the culmination of a way to gain space for pedestrians without the need to do major works. It was 2021, still in the times of social distancing due to covid. After the emergency actions with yellow paint on Via Laietana and where the green axes of the Eixample are now, the extension of the Pelai street sidewalk was much more refined, with the space delimited by bollards instead of concrete blocks and giant balls of warm colors instead of flashy paint. Either because it was executed better or because of the characteristics of the street, the truth is that the pedestrians had conquered the asphalt, especially on Friday afternoon and Saturday, even if they had to face each other from time to time to some scooter
Even the commercial entity Barcelona Oberta, very critical of the urban transformations carried out elsewhere in the city, celebrated the work at the time. Two and a half years later, Gabriel Jené, also the president of the Pelai traders’ association, appreciates the rectification because, in his opinion, “the area had not been consolidated as a space for pedestrians, it generated confusion and was a chaos”. The merchants aspire to one day have the street more pedestrianized, a long-term goal shared by Janet Sanz, the former deputy mayor who pushed for the work, convinced that, like the concrete balls of the ‘ Eixample gave foot to the green axes, the Pelai sidewalk would one day end up being extended a meter wider and with a bike lane to avoid conflicts.
On the other hand, his successor, the socialist Laia Bonet, believes that “it has had little use, practically non-existent” and defends that with the new organization of the space there is a response to the demand for more parking spaces for motorbikes and bikes in the city center. There will be 64 new spaces painted on the driveway for motorbikes and inverted U parking lots installed to accommodate 72 bicycles. At the same time, it allows for improved loading and unloading with twenty more places than there are already. This is the true reason for the decision taken by the municipal government. The space available until now was undoubtedly insufficient in a street where vans and delivery trucks arrive at all hours. Some even sneaked as best they could into the space won through tactical urban planning.
In the section between Balmes and Plaça Catalunya, the reformed space will give rise to a double cordon of services. In the part closest to the two traffic lanes, the loading and unloading spaces will be maintained and the new parking spaces will be created in the area that was now for pedestrians. So that cyclists and motorists can access it, a kind of small access lane will be set up between the painted area for loading and unloading and the pavement, a kind of road that had not been applied until now in the city and the result of which it’s all an unknown.
