Barcelona is getting ready for the works that for 3 years will transform the central Rambla into a more pedestrian space with less traffic. The Barcelona City Council will start this week the neighborhood information campaign in this area of the city before the bulldozers enter and traffic in the area is rearranged.
Until the beginning of 2027, the most touristic area of Barcelona will have raised sidewalks and roadways and a traffic reorganization that we explain below. In total, the work will be divided into 3 phases:
The works will be carried out in three main phases, each lasting approximately 10 months, and will be carried out in 50-meter sections to minimize inconvenience:
The first phase will affect the roadway and sidewalk on the Besòs side. Vehicles will circulate in the direction of Plaza Catalunya on the roadway that currently goes down to Colom.
In a second phase, work will be carried out on the roadway and sidewalk on the Llobregat side. In this case, vehicles will drive on the uphill Besòs roadway, which will have been completed in the previous phase.
In the last phase, which will take up to 12 months to complete, the central promenade will be constructed in alternating sections to guarantee pedestrian access. The lateral sections will already be completed and the two-way traffic could be restored.
The consistory has detailed in a statement that, before the start of the main works, preliminary works will be carried out to ensure mobility. Provisional vehicle crossings will be set up at strategic points such as Portaferrissa-Carme, Ferran and Colom, and the direction of the roadway on the Raval side will be changed, which will be uphill from Colom to Plaza de Catalunya.
If you travel by public transportation, you may be interested to know that the v13, 59 and N9 bus lines will have modifications in their routes. If you are more into having a drink on one of its terraces, there will only be affectations during the third phase, with a duration of between five and eight weeks.
The Barcelona City Council will deploy from this week a team of informers in the street and will enable the Espai Rambla in the Palau de la Virreina to centralize information and answer questions.
what will the new Rambla look like?
When it is ready in 2027, the new Rambla will reduce the space allocated to vehicles and the sidewalks and central promenade will be widened. Along with new rest areas under the trees, with benches and chairs, three large plaza spaces will be created on the Espai Betlem-Moja, Pla de la Boqueria and Pla del Teatre axes.
Special emphasis will also be placed on security elements, installed since 2017 because of the attacks on the Rambla and which will be reinforced with these works as there will be more pedestrian space.
The total investment for the transformation of the Rambla is 55.6 million euros.