NEW DESIGN OF CATALAN ROADS

A very good initiative

A long-debated topic in Road Safety is the very high danger of overtaking on the roads. It seems that drivers have not realized that they must always overtake calmly and cautiously. Despite this, there are around 20% of fatal maneuvers on our roads – incompatible with the idea of Vision Zero.

Some conventional roads have been laid out with medians of different types – a protection system that all roads should contain. The 2 + 1 concept, with sections in different directions with 2 lanes in the same direction for overtaking, is a great improvement to avoid a portion of dangerous head-on collisions.

The Department of Territory of the Generalitat of Catalonia has provided an example of the new type of conventional roads type 2 + 1 with median, published in El Punt d’avui. (3/16-23)

 

 

From P(A)T we congratulate the initiative, since it is positive to see important developments for road safety.

However, we believe that the proposal has fallen quite short. There is a big problem on narrow roads. There are thousands of kilometers of roads without shoulders, where neither pedestrians nor cyclists have space and which are exposed to the aggressiveness of drivers who occupy the entire road and with large speed differences compared to active mobility users.

There must be space for active mobility on all roads in our country, although we know that it is a dream that is still difficult to imagine. But that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t do anything.

The easiest and most effective measure is to study in which sections of the network it is appropriate to adjust the speed limit, to bring the real speed of drivers and users closer. In other words, on roads without shoulders that can accommodate cyclists and pedestrians, it will be a clear requirement that the speed limit not remain at normal road speed, but rather be generalized to 50 km/h and in special cases to 30 km/h.

For road safety, it is a “MUST” to also address this issue of the thousands of kilometers that do not have enough space for different users.

It is essential that a Highway Commission be created to study this important issue for road safety, which generates so many accidents and suffering for those in active mobility.

 

By the PAT Board

Ole Thorson