FCC Construcción is making progress on the A5 underground section project, known as the Paseo Verde del Sureste in Madrid.

Two separate 800-metre and 500-metre tunnel galleries have been connected in the vicinity of the Batán junction, excavated in the southern section (towards Madrid) of the A-5 underground project. The Mayor of Madrid, José Luis Martínez-Almeida, was present when the two excavators joined the two sections.

The tunnel will be completed this spring. Subsequently, work will be carried out on connecting the systems to Calle 30 (ventilation, emergency exits, cameras, extractors, etc.).

The first cale (technical operation to join the galleries) of the tunnel that ends with the A-5 on the surface was carried out on 16 January in the vicinity of Calle del Olivillo. At that time, two tunnels were linked, resulting in 700 linear metres (plus an additional 100 metres that have been excavated since then), which have been connected today in the second connection, creating 1,300 linear metres of underground tunnel (800 plus 500 metres).

To date, 2.1 kilometres of tunnel have been excavated in both sections of the 3.2 kilometres in total in both directions, and 83.5% of the slab (77,706 square metres) has been completed, which will conceal 80,000 vehicles that used to travel along the motorway every day before work began on this major urban transformation project.

The smooth progress of the works on both sections, where more than 600 workers and over 400 machines have been working simultaneously, will allow the underground section to open at the end of the year.

The ten existing pedestrian crossings on both sections have already been closed: Illescas, Boadilla (mixed), Sanchorreja, San Juan de la Mata, Villavaliente, Villamanín, Dante, Parque de Atracciones (mixed), Batán (mixed) and Yébenes (mixed).

A city project

The Paseo de Extremadura will be transformed into the Paseo Verde del Suroeste, a large pedestrian axis that will connect the neighbourhoods of Latina, Lucero, Aluche and Las Águilas with those of Campamento and Casa de Campo (the latter belonging to Moncloa-Aravaca), separated since 1968 by the asphalt that 80,000 vehicles cross every day.

Covering the A-5 will allow the pedestrianised boulevard of Avenida de Portugal, which connects with Madrid Río, to continue to Avenida del Padre Piquer. Vehicles on the surface will be reduced by 90%, as will pollutant emissions. In addition to reclaiming the space occupied by the asphalt for residents, pedestrian mobility will be improved in terms of public transport and roads, resulting in improved road safety in the area and solving the problems of traffic jams at conflictive junctions such as Paseo de Extremadura, Batán and Boadilla del Monte.

“Soft” mobility will be promoted thanks to the construction of a 3.5-kilometre two-way cycle lane with traffic lights, which will start at Calle de Illescas and connect with the existing lane on Avenida de Portugal, thus linking up with Madrid Río. This will encourage the use of this means of transport to access the city centre. At ground level, there will be wider pavements and 33 new pedestrian crossings, compared to the current 16, encouraging people to walk.