In July, the City Council of José Luis Martínez-Almeida approved the contract for the development of the project which will result in the installation of a green slab at the top of the M-30 at the height of Ventas, with a budget of 87 .8 million euros. An area of 17,000 square meters which will connect the districts of Salamanca and Ciudad Lineal on a pedestrian and landscape level. In this way, the Quinta de Fuente del Berro Park, on the Salamanca side, and the green space and sports facilities located on the Ciudad Lineal side will be directly connected.
Once the work is completed, which will take place between spring 2025 and 2027, the structure will be 200 meters long and will include pedestrian areas, gardens and residential areas in which more than 200 new trees will be planted (after felling 54 specimens in a historic garden and its surroundings, as envisaged in the preliminary design).
The initiative is a pillar of one of the main axes of the mobility and urban planning policy of the Almeida team. The specific burial of the M-30 was the third announced in the campaign that ended with his re-election. He joined the coverage of the Castellana in the Cuatro Torres area and the burying of at least 4 kilometers of the A-5, which he had already promised before his first mandate and whose works are about to be completed. to start.
The municipal representatives of the PSOE and Más Madrid, however, question the real impact of this burial. Antonio Giraldo, socialist spokesperson at the Planning Commission, even shows his reservations about the use of the term “bury”. He estimates that this word or “cover” can be used in actions like that of Alberto Ruiz-Gallardón, with an incidence between 20 and 30% of the M-30. “We must take into account that this road is about 14 kilometers in the eastern part and we are talking about covering about 200 meters, or less than 2%,” he emphasizes in a conversation with Somos Madrid. Thus, he maintains, it is rather “a new green space on a section of highway”.
He emphasizes that “the M-30 constitutes a physical and socio-economic barrier, so reducing these barriers is always a good thing”. He then adds that “the key to success or not lies in its management and its scope”. According to him, “this is not the most appropriate location, because this investment could have been allocated to a location with a greater border effect.” He cites the case of Puente de Vallecas, “with more inequalities between the two sides and greater pollution generated by traffic.” He suggests that “with this money, work to dismantle the viaduct could have started”.
The mayor of Más Madrid, José Luis Nieto, raises the same question in statements to this newspaper: “Almeida could have taken advantage of the 2025 budgets to dismantle once and for all the scalextric of Puente de Vallecas, which was approved in the plenary session of the Town Hall. Advice. But the mayor put it in the drawer of oblivion, once again ignoring the citizens. “This intervention would indeed be an operation to bridge a significant inequality gap and unite two districts.” He considers that “if the City Council sells us this action as one of its big city operations, it appears more and more clearly that this mayor lacks a project and a model for Madrid.”
It must be taken into account that this road is approximately 14 kilometers in the eastern part and we are talking about covering approximately 200 meters, or less than 2%. Rather, it is a new green space on a section of highway
In this sense, Giraldo describes the action as “a meaningless solution in the city because it is isolated from a more transversal intervention”. It is not in vain that he goes beyond this project and questions the burial model: “We are talking about covering when we should aim to reduce the lanes of the M-30, like this which is done in large European cities like Paris”. He talks about “landscape solutions that don’t solve the problem of congestion and traffic,” because “the big underlying problem is mobility, and hiding it doesn’t eliminate it.”
“Those who speak of little ambition are those who, 20 years ago, opposed the burial of the M-30 or those who, not so long ago, tried to transform the A-5 by installing traffic lights”, defend municipal sources from the Works and Materials sector consulted by this newspaper. “The City Council considers the upcoming resurfacing of the M-30 in Ventas as a transformative project that follows the major actions carried out in the city since Almeida was mayor. This is a project that will improve the quality of life of neighbors, since they will gain 17,000 square meters for their enjoyment,” they add.
“Regarding the M-30 that passes through Puente de Vallecas, the opposition must stop lying to the neighbors,” they say from the Municipal Executive. “We are not talking about a bridge like that of Joaquín Costa or that of Pedro Bosch. This is the M-30, the main ring road in this city. Demolishing this bridge would paralyze traffic on this road. We must find a solution that improves the conditions of this area, but it must be compatible with the mobility of the M-30. “Let them explain what they are proposing, what the cost is and what they are going to do with the tens of thousands of cars that pass through this point on the M-30 every day,” they respond to opposition criticism .
From the area led by the popular councilor Paloma García Romero, it is celebrated that thanks to the new structure near Ventas “neighbors will have games for children, gymnastic equipment and a small outdoor performance area with a low bleacher “. They also boast of the new “green” connection between the neighborhoods of Salamanca and Ciudad Lineal, with 200 new trees after removing 54 others.
A “green” project not exempt from logging
In opposition, Nieto highlights the environmental effects of the planned cover in Ventas: “We are very concerned about the possible effects on Fuente del Berro Park. Almeida intends to sell the project as a green space gain at the cost of altering and removing trees from Fuente del Berro Park. Their desire to destroy Madrid’s trees is incredible.
Most of the trees that will disappear are east of M-30, but nearly a dozen of the affected trees will be cut down in the grounds of Quinta Fuente del Berro itself, a historic 17th-century garden. “The specimens concerned are mostly large specimens and belong to species such as Arizona trees, cedars, pines, elms and ailanthus,” specifies the municipal preliminary draft of the work.
The municipal council states that “in a preliminary project it is very difficult to establish the number of trees that can be affected in such a complex project and only with the execution project will it be possible to know it.” They assure that “one of the aspects that will be valued is the preservation of most trees”.
“The preliminary project includes an inventory of trees, which does not necessarily mean that they will be affected and even less that a possible felling has been requested. Regardless, we will work, as always, to keep the effects minimal. In addition, not only will the trees that had to be cut down be replaced, but many more will be planted on these slopes on both sides of the M-30,” defends the Works zone.
The space created on the M-30 will be connected to the banks by eight paths and will include pedestrian areas, gardens and residential areas in which more than 200 new trees will be planted. The new platform will be located approximately 300 meters south of the Ventas Bridge, near the Ramón de Aguinaga footbridge.
This location was determined as the most suitable to avoid the demolition of the ramps that connect the M-30 to Alcalá Street, which would imply a great impact on mobility for several months, in addition to significant technical complexity. On the other hand, in the section 300 meters south of the bridge there are metro installations and a depot of the Canal de Isabel II which would make the connection of the platform impossible. To all this, it must be added that the selected section of the M-30 passes in a trench at a level lower than that of the city on both sides of the infrastructure, which will facilitate the work.
