The Catalan Traffic Service foresees this Easter Monday the return of the bulk of vehicles towards Barcelona and its metropolitan area, on a day marked by the Easter return operation and by a special operation to absorb the increase in movements.
Between 12:00 on Sunday and 12:00 on this Monday, almost 342,000 vehicles have already returned to the Barcelona area. The figure represents 58% of the 590,000 planned movements during this return phase.
Special measures on the AP 7 and the C 32
To favor mobility, Trànsit has activated special measures on several main roads and has imposed restrictions on heavy vehicles. The objective is to provide more passage capacity in the accesses towards the Catalan capital and reduce the impact of the high traffic intensity.
The AP 7 has two additional lanes in the Barcelona direction. In the southern section, it has been enabled between Vilafranca del Penedès and Molins de Rei. In the northern section, the device is operational between Sant Celoni and Montornès del Vallès.
Also, an additional lane has been planned on the C 32 north, likewise in the direction of Barcelona, between Sant Andreu de Llavaneres and Montgat.
Restrictions for trucks and speed limits
In the sections where an additional lane has been opened, trucks cannot overtake and must circulate at a maximum of 80 km/h in both directions. In the case of cars and motorcycles, the speed is limited to 100 km/h.
These limitations are part of the regulation operation deployed to regulate traffic in the corridors with the most traffic load during the holiday return.
Delays already since Sunday
The return operation already left this Sunday slow traffic and retentions at several points of the AP 7, the A 2 and other regional roads, coinciding with the accumulation of vehicles that brought forward the return from vacation.
With a good part of the return still pending, the forecast is that the pressure on the accesses to Barcelona will be maintained throughout the day, especially on the motorways and roads that channel the arrival from the south and north of the metropolitan area.