The previous local government of Valencia, made up of Compromís and PSPV, launched an ideas competition in 2021 for the regeneration of Avenida Pérez Galdós in Valencia, crossed by a tunnel and one of the busiest roads in the city. In 2022, the project was submitted for European funds to remove the underground passage, with a reduction in space for private vehicles, and in July 2023 the project was awarded a subsidy of 9.9 million euros from the European Next Generation funds. A year later, the new local Executive, made up of PP and Vox, has reconsidered the project and the Ministry of Transport is now requiring the City Council, headed by María José Catalá (PP), to justify that the modifications comply with the criteria for European aid because, otherwise, it risks losing them. As EL PAÍS reported, Óscar Puente’s department is investigating 14 other cities for regressions in sustainable mobility paid for with European funds.
The original project for Pérez Galdós Avenue acted on an axis two kilometers long, eliminated the internal passage to traffic and created two pedestrian strips, three lines of trees, space dedicated to the bike lane and public transport. The plan also reduced the space for private motor vehicles to a minimum, so that pedestrian routes were favored longitudinally but also transversally by eliminating the barrier effect that the current design represents.
The presentation of the regeneration of the avenue for European funds was justified because the space allocated to non-polluting alternative means of mobility was increased and the roadway for private vehicles was reduced, “which will contribute significantly to reducing polluting emissions and, in its consequence, to the improvement of air quality, people’s safety, active mobility and, therefore, a benefit to people’s health,” stated the report of the work.
The new government, of PP and Vox, paralyzed the project to review it and requested a traffic simulation study from the Mobility Service in August 2023 because it considered Pérez Galdós and Giorgeta avenue a round that is part of the priority axis that channels and distributes traffic throughout the city. The chosen solution should not lose the circular character of the avenue, the new council imposed as a condition despite neighborhood requests to calm traffic in the area.
The Ministry of Transport was aware that changes were coming to the project and asked the Valencian City Council in September of last year to provide documentation that would make it possible to determine whether the review maintained the objectives of the European subsidy. This department sent another letter last April because the response that Valencia gave did not provide details about the solution under study: the council alleged that the project was in the initial drafting phase and the requested documentation was not available. which would be delivered as soon as the construction project was approved.
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In mid-May, María José Catalá’s team finally presented its remodeling, in which the removal of the tunnel was postponed “in the short term” as initially intended because, as they stated, the previous local government miscalculated the cost and costs. execution times to eliminate it. The Urban Planning Councilor of Valencia, Juan Giner, argued that removing the tunnel would cost close to 10 million more euros, which would be added to the 12 million already budgeted. The PP proposed in exchange to reduce one of the lanes reserved for private traffic on the avenue to avoid possible reluctance, so that instead of two lanes for private vehicles and one for public transport, there was one for individuals but the second would be mixed use for cars and public transport, denounced the socialist opposition.
According to Transport, given that the current Pérez Galdós avenue has two lanes for private vehicles plus one bus lane, in each direction; Any solution that does not imply a “reduction to the minimum of the space for private motor vehicles”, that is, eliminating one of the two lanes in service for private vehicles in each direction, would imply altering the objectives of the subsidy, “so it does not could be accepted.” And warns of the risk of losing funds. “The non-compliant municipalities will have to return the money and may also face a penalty of up to three times the amount of the subsidy,” the Secretary General of Sustainable Mobility, Álvaro Fernández Heredia, explained to EL PAÍS.
The socialist councilor in Valencia María Pérez has denounced that Catalá hides the fact that it is receiving requests for acting without consulting the Ministry and questioning compliance with the bases of the European subsidies granted to public space recovery projects, after learning of the letter sent by Transport. The councilor has expressed “the concern” of the socialists because “these projects are not only marking Valencia’s reputation in terms of sustainability, but are also putting European funding at risk.”
Request for the superblock
This requirement from the Ministry of Transport is not the only one received in recent weeks by the Valencia City Council. On June 19, the department headed by Óscar Puente sent another letter to the Catalá cabinet to explain why it has reduced pedestrian space in favor of new parking in the Petxina superblock, a project inaugurated in March 2023 to pacify the traffic and create car-free zones in the heart of the capital’s urban area.
This department asks the mayor to “provide additional and detailed information on possible alterations to the original project, and justify that her subsidy request is fulfilled” because failure to comply implies a fine and the return of European aid received for a total amount of 3 .5 million euros. The mayor of Valencia, María José Catalá, accused the Government of Spain of “bullying” after learning of the letter.
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