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[E] Spain | road infrastructure • autopistas y autovías

3M views 12K replies 451 participants last post by  alserrod 
#1 ·
I just happened to stumple across it while looking at google earth, and the network they have there is pretty breath-taking, especially by European standards. A few ring roads, tollways, C+D setups, and more freeway to freeway interchanges than I can count, compared to our 2 here in Sydney :( Not to mention plenty of lanes on each.

Anyway, does someone have some context or explaination of what's driving this huge boom in freeways? Wikipedia doesn't have a single thing to say about Madrid's roads, believe it or not, and I can't find much else on the net, so any comments from locals or people in the know, you're welcome.



I mean, jesus christ, just south-east of the city they have 9 full on interchanges covering an area that appears to be practically empty, if i'm missing something I would love to know.

Edit: Oh, nice forums here by the way, glad I found 'em.
 
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#7,741 ·
^^ Finally only the A-31 realignment (1.7 km) opened today. They say “it’s part of the A-33 project”, but the statements from the Minister I posted yesterday are inaccurate to say the least. In any event I’m afraid we’ll have to wait for a while until the new A-33 section between La Font de la Figuera and A-31 opens.

Map of the new A-31 realignment (yellow):



Source: http://www.fomento.es/MFOMBPrensa/N...-la-en-A/2620a948-f12c-4b4c-8ef4-715f2877671b
 
#7,742 ·
It is so weird that AFAIK, south junction is partially in one region, partially in another one.

Providing there are only 15 regions in mainland, it is not so usual...
 
#7,743 ·
Today I took some pictures of the A-12 near the village of Ventosa, between Logroño and Nájera (La Rioja).

Looking westerly (towards Burgos):

PC053689 by J GM, en Flickr


PC053700 by J GM, en Flickr

Looking easterly (towards Logroño)

PC053692 by J GM, en Flickr


Ventosa, population 163 (2016), on the foothills of the Moncalvillo. Ventosa has 2 meanings in Spanish: 'Suction cup' and 'Windy'. I guess it's the latter.

PC053686 by J GM, en Flickr

It's not uncommon in Spain that such tiny villages have their own exit.

PC053685 by J GM, en Flickr

This milestone is placed inside one of the roundabouts. The current 283th kilometre of the N-120 must be somewhere around León. I don't know where the starting point was when this milestone was made.


PC053706 by J GM, en Flickr



These other pics were taken from another overpass, closer to Nájera.

Looking westwards. The Sierra de la Demanda in the background.

PC053603 by J GM, en Flickr

Last year, the mileage of the La Rioja stretch of the A-12 was reset to match the one used in Navarra, which means the starting point is now Pamplona.

PC053616 by J GM, en Flickr

Compare with this photo taken last year, when this point was km 18: https://www.flickr.com/photos/142131132@N05/26364627600/in/dateposted/

Looking towards the other direction:

PC053605 by J GM, en Flickr

Again, this is now exit 102, but last year it was #16:https://www.flickr.com/photos/142131132@N05/26572195981/in/photostream/

PC053609 by J GM, en Flickr


I've also taken photos of country roads, but I'll post them later on.
 
#7,745 ·
It is a large non-rocky mountains. It starts, almost in Miranda de Ebro and ends near Mediterranean. For instance, if you go Burgos-Logroño-Zaragoza you will see all summits in the right (Moncayo, between Aragon and Castilla, best view from Tudela, is highest point)

If you drive Madrid-Zaragoza o Valencia-Zaragoza, for instance, you are absolutely crossing them.


About A-12, some local forumers said have recently seen some signals that are set prior to start works!!!!!!!
 
#7,746 ·
A-12

^^ Construction works on the Burgos - Ibeas de Juarros section of A-12 officially started on November 1st. It will be completed in 30 months.

Source: http://www.elcorreodeburgos.com/not...a-12-ibeas-burgos-ya-estan-marcha_162592.html

We will see some activity already from next week, according to some local forumers.

The project should look like this on MichiH's list:

A12: Burgos (A1) – Ibeas de Juarros 4.2km (November 2017 to Spring 2020)
 
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#7,747 ·
A-54

And more news, construction of the last section of A-54 (Arzua - Melide, 16.4 km) has been awarded:

Novedades....



Por fin salió publicada la adjudicación del tramo que faltaba, y como ya se había comentado, a la UTE que yo había anunciado, por 88 millones de €....
 
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#7,748 ·
A60: Puente Villarente – Santas Martas-South 20km (? to October 2018) – ? – map
Construction is pretty advanced. The deadline should be met, or even pushed forward to May 2018, according to some rumours.

De mi paseo en bici de esta tarde. Obras muy avanzadas a la altura de Mansilla de las Mulas; en principio la apertura al tráfico entre el Puente Villarente y Santas Martas está prevista para octubre del 2018, pero he oído rumores de que se adelantará a Mayo.







http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=1651084&page=12
Fotos del enlace con la A-231 entre Santas Martas y Villamarco y continuación hasta el entronque con la N-601 en dirección a Matallana de Valmadrigal.





http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=1651084&page=12
 
#7,749 ·
A signage replacement project on A-23 has resulted in a CHE-xxxx designation being posted on motorway for the first time. This hasn't been goof free however, as new signs still include A-1211 (which hasn't reached A-23 for three years now, having been replaced by A-1210. Incidentally this is just over the CHE designation), and signs being posted in the wrong direction ("Ejea", I assume Ejea "de los Caballeros", is supposed to be signed on exit 332 Southbound only, however some signs ended up Northbound when someone would have exited 16 km earlier).
 
#7,751 ·
^^ CHE stands for Confederación Hidrográfica del Ebro, which is responsible of water management in the Ebro drainage basin. Apparently they also own several roads here and there, designated as CHE-xxxx, mostly service roads along irrigation canals (which they like to ban to general traffic, save a few exceptions used to access towns).

The road that has now been signed on A-23 is CHE-1429, which runs alongside Monegros canal. At one point it was part of A-1207, as it appeared on A-23 until recently.
 
#7,752 ·
It was first irrigation management administration in all the world.

It built, af first, some roads over irrigated areas and... it is "supposed" they maintain them. (some of them are changed to regional roads, therefore, minimal maintenance at least). Most of those roads are used only by country machinery, but some of them links with tiny villages too


(and yeah... they exists roads CHE-XXX)
 
#7,753 · (Edited)
Cool photos! The one with the snowy Sierra de la Demanda in the background is great.
Thanks! The Sierra de la Demanda is quite an iconic view of La Rioja. It can be seen from almost half of the region if you look towards the SW.

I've also taken photos of country roads, but I'll post them later on.
So here we go! The whole set of photos can be seen here, in case you are interested.

The LR-341 near Ventosa

LR-341 (2) by J GM, en Flickr

The LR-322, one of the roads to Huércanos.

LR-322 by J GM, en Flickr

We're more to the west now, near Santo Domingo de la Calzada. Again the Sierra de la Demanda in the background.

LR-326 by J GM, en Flickr


The LR-204 near Manzanares de Rioja with the Montes Obarenes in the background (looking NW). That's were the Pancorbo gorge (AP-1 / N-1) is located.

LR-204 (13) by J GM, en Flickr

The intersection with the LR-325, including a rural bus stop. Rural bus stops have a different design in each autonomous region of Spain. In Navarre or Castilla y León they look more... sturdy.

LR-325 by J GM, en Flickr

The LR-325 looking North. That's the Gorbea mountain in the background (about 75 km / 47 mi away), which is located between Vitoria-Gasteiz and Bilbao. Under the fog is the river Ebro crossing the Conchas de Haro gorge.

LR-325 (3) by J GM, en Flickr


Back on the LR-204, near Villar de Torre

LR-204 (8) by J GM, en Flickr

See the pictogram between "Gobierno" and "de La Rioja"? Yes, that's the shape of the Sierra de la Demanda with a medieval bridge in the front.

PC053941 by J GM, en Flickr


LR-204 (10) by J GM, en Flickr

After the intersection with the LR-206, the LR-204 becomes an "old-stlye road" all the way to its eastern terminus in Badarán.

LR-204 (1) by J GM, en Flickr

From the LR-204 you can get this view of the Sierra de la Demanda. This view has been used everywhere in La Rioja, from calendars to billboards.

LR-204 (3) by J GM, en Flickr

Here's a closer look of it.

La Rioja by J GM, en Flickr
 
#7,754 ·
The La Demanda ridge is the Northwesternmost ridge of the Iberian system mountains. The Northwestern section through Rioja and Soria is quite clear for me, and contains several mountains over 2000 m. But from Moncayo (the highest mountain of the range at 2313 m) onwards I get lost as the montains split into the Aragonese and Castilian branches (although I can track the Aragonese branch to A-23 and the Huerva river). The Aragonese branch goes to connect to the Catalan coastal range in the Beceite mountains, the Castilian branch goes as far South as the Jucar river, connecting there with the Baetic system, and the Maestrazgo lies between them. And then there's the Solorio range around the Aragon/Castile and Leon/Castile la Mancha tripoint, which connects the Iberian system with the Central one. Now that is a crazy mountain range, especially in Teruel province where I don't have nothing clear.

Now back to roads. Near the Javalambre ridge (one of only two peaks above 2000 meters located Southeast of Moncayo, the other is Peñarroya to the Northeast), as A-23 gets to the summit of Escandon pass just Southeast of Teruel, there is an exit to Formiche. The fun thing is that there isn't a village called just Formiche, as there is an upper Formiche (Formiche Alto or Formiche Susano as I spell it, of course thanks to the Aragonese Wikipedia :D) and a lower Formiche (Formiche Bajo or Formiche Yusano). I think they decided not to sign both and instead they signed just Formiche.
 
#7,755 ·
Weird... there are two closed villages called Formiche. Municipality has the name of the biggest (instead of just only Formiche as CNGL says) and... it is pointed "Formiche.


Junction is in a mountain pass. They are quite weird those passes. Roads and paths go everywhere looking for easiest way. These mountains aren't with valleys and summits like Pyrenees or Alps but just one mountain after another and sometimes, the best path is over a hill, or a cross is in a mountain pass (I know another example).

BTW, Quite close to A-23 railway runs to Valencia and there's a station. One platform (where it will stop one train four times per week) and seven rails more (without platform). It is used as Teruel freight station to avoid lorries entering into city centre... and it is one out of highest stations in Spain
 
#7,757 ·
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#7,758 ·
Usually not many pictures of ongoing projects are posted on the official sites.
Why is that? There don't seem to be any project websites in general. In most other countries, road authorities provide extensive coverage of road projects, both planned and under construction. I have seen some Fomento press releases regarding traffic impacts of a project, but it's usually not more than a warning for disruption and detours.
 
#7,759 ·
The road that has now been signed on A-23 is CHE-1429, which runs alongside Monegros canal. At one point it was part of A-1207, as it appeared on A-23 until recently.
How did Aragon manage to 'steal' the road off the waterworks people? (I take it A-1207 is an Aragonese designation not an Autovia here) :D
 
#7,760 ·
Why is that? There don't seem to be any project websites in general. In most other countries, road authorities provide extensive coverage of road projects, both planned and under construction. I have seen some Fomento press releases regarding traffic impacts of a project, but it's usually not more than a warning for disruption and detours.
In my opinion, people in charge of Fomento simply don't care. Transparency is not one of the top priorities and, besides, I always have the feeling they just improvise everything and have an absolute lack of planning. So why keeping a good coverage if then they're not going to meet deadlines?

For instance, in other European countries opening dates of new sections are often announced many months in advance and they stick to those dates. Here we usually only know when a motorway is going to open a few days in advance, and just because a politician is going to be there in the opening ceremony and wants media coverage.

However, some regional governments in Spain actually keep a good coverage of road and rail projects. Namely the Basque Country, where detailed reports about the construction of the new HSL are released every 3 months.
 
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