Drivers on Barcelona’s vital Ronda Litoral ring road faced significant disruption on Saturday afternoon after a vehicle fire caused emergency closures and long tailbacks. The incident serves as a stark prelude to a more prolonged period of disruption, as the city has also confirmed a two-month programme of night-time works to repair a deteriorating section of the same key artery.

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The immediate chaos began at approximately 4 PM when a vehicle caught fire on the B-10 motorway, known as the Ronda Litoral, near kilometre 5. The blaze occurred in the Sant Martí district on the section heading towards the Besòs river.

Afternoon Commute Disrupted by Blaze

As a precautionary measure, the Guàrdia Urbana immediately closed exit 24, the main access to the Besòs area. Shortly after, Trànsit, the Catalan Transit Service, reported a full closure of the carriageway at Bac de Roda for traffic heading towards Trinitat, diverting vehicles onto lateral roads.

In a statement to El Periódico, the Guàrdia Urbana confirmed emergency services worked to extinguish the flames and clear the vehicle. Although authorities later reopened the road, residual traffic jams of up to two kilometres persisted into the early evening. This compounded a difficult day on the city’s ring roads, following a separate accident which caused B-20 closures Saturday morning.

Ageing Infrastructure Requires Major Overhaul

Meanwhile, commuters must brace for further, more predictable, disruption as extensive repair works are scheduled for a different stretch of the Ronda Litoral. A two-month project will tackle structural issues in the tunnel section running between the Columbus Monument and the Moll de la Fusta along the city’s waterfront.

The Ronda Litoral, like its counterpart the Ronda de Dalt, formed a cornerstone of infrastructure built for the 1992 Summer Olympics. Over three decades later, parts of the network are showing their age.

Technical documents, published by the municipal infrastructure company Barcelona d’Infraestructures Municipals (BIMSA) and reviewed by TOT Barcelona, highlight “constant problems of watertightness and pavement integrity” in this section.

The report warns of “frequent water infiltrations and surface degradation” caused by road base saturation. It adds that more significant structural damage cannot be ruled out. The issue stems from the ground’s “deficient response to the traffic loads,” rather than original construction defects. To remedy this, technicians will inject cement under the road slab to compact the ground and increase its load-bearing capacity. These crucial Ronda Litoral tunnel repairs are set to cost over €690,000.

Night-Time Closures and Diversions Planned

To minimise traffic impact, crews will carry out the works exclusively at night. The plan involves full closures in both directions from midnight until 4 AM, Monday to Friday. BIMSA has indicated a preference for scheduling the project during a period of lower traffic intensity, such as late July to late August. The public tender for the project remains under evaluation.

Specific diversions will be in place during the closures:

  • Towards Besòs: Traffic will be directed off the ring road at exit 21 (Ciutat Vella) and can rejoin at the next entrance, exit 22 (Barceloneta).
  • Towards Llobregat: The diversion will begin at exit 23 (Poble Sec), with traffic rerouted towards Montjuïc before being able to rejoin the main carriageway.

This major project on the Ronda Litoral is part of a wider city effort to renew and maintain its transport infrastructure, which includes other significant projects such as the ongoing four-month closure on Rambla De Guipúscoa. While the weekend’s fire caused acute, short-term delays, the upcoming works signal a necessary, if inconvenient, investment in the long-term health of Barcelona’s road network.