Historically, the planning and construction of roads has focused on cars and car-based mobility, and applied traffic-centred criteria such as capacity, speed, user comfort and safety. However, in recent years the integration of road infrastructure into the urban landscape, and attempts to minimise the impact on pedestrians, has given rise to new initiatives and an approach more in keeping with today’s world, in which environmental sustainability and quality of life for citizens takes precedence.

The integration of new roads with other, cleaner forms of mobility that are experiencing growth (e.g. cycling) requires a more congenial and human approach

The United Nations’ New Urban Agenda makes it clear that in order to improve sustainability, simultaneous progress is required in environmental, social and economic terms. In order to make a positive impact on our surroundings it is vital that these three elements are integrated with a holistic vision. Sustainable development must therefore proceed in parallel with economic development, the improvement of citizen well-being and ecological balance.

Making cities greener, more accessible, quieter and cleaner requires an approach to reform that is based on the analysis of multiple criteria. The integration of new roads with other, cleaner forms of mobility that are experiencing growth (e.g. cycling) requires a more congenial and human approach. However, transforming communication routes, which sometimes cut off and mutilate the urban environment, can be a complex challenge due to the fact that the existing infrastructure and buildings are themselves a constraint.

The study carried out by Ineco on a 1.4-km section of Avenida Alfonso Molina incorporates the construction of paths that will organise and provide solutions for the shared use of the road by drivers, pedestrians and cyclists.

Moreover, the humanisation of road margins in the urban environment makes it clearer to drivers that they are entering a new environment and should adapt their driving accordingly, e.g. by reducing their speed when they approach crossings and paying closer attention to their surroundings. This also helps to improve road safety in the urban environment.

The Spanish Urban Agenda identifies 10 primary goals which, in turn, involve the achievement of 30 specific objectives.

In recent years, and in line with the changing approach to the issue of roads in the urban environment, Ineco has been incorporating humanisation measures into the road-related projects that it carries out. Such considerations were taken into account when drawing up the construction plans for Improving the capacity of Avenida Alfonso Molina (highway AC-11), which comprises the main route of access into the city of A Coruña in north-west Spain.

Improvements to Avenida Alfonso Molina in A Coruña

The project’s main aim is to solve the congestion problems of a particular section of the road by increasing its capacity and improving connectivity, while at the same time improving the integration of the infrastructure into the urban environment and taking into account the key criteria of equal, fair and sustainable development as specified in the Urban Agenda.

The study proposes the incorporation of paths and walkways shared by pedestrians and cyclists, which would enable coexistence with the road’s vehicular traffic while ensuring adequate levels of road safety and permeability of the road margins.

The road was build in the mid-20th century and is wide, with three lanes in each direction and, in certain sections, a service road on either side. At its far north-western end the road ends at the port of A Coruña, almost at the entrance to the city’s old quarter.

The paths designed by Ineco allow for the segregation of vehicles and cyclists, unlike at present. / INFOGRAPHIC_MITMA

When it was built, the road passed through the rural population centres outside the city and provided a new link between the city and the countryside. Traditionally, transport routes had run parallel to the sea in the bay of A Coruña. Over time, other urban planning projects, such as the construction of residential buildings in Elviña and Barrio de las Flores and the industrial estates of Matogrande, Someso and Parque Ofimático, have increased traffic pressure in the area, as has the addition of traffic from the AP-9 highway.

The plan drawn up by Ineco focuses on a 1.4-km (approx.) section of Avenida Alfonso Molina that lies on the outskirts of the city, between Avenida San Cristóbal (AC-10) and the connections to highways AP-9 and AC-11. As stated above, the plan’s main aim is to solve the traffic problems for the section in question. According to the available data, in 2016 this section was used by 124,037 vehicles per day, of which 5.1% were heavy vehicles. Currently, this translates to a Level of Service (LOS) F while entering the city and LOS E while exiting. This results in regular traffic jams and hold-ups at peak times and during specific events, which in turn causes a large number of accidents of various types.

Elevation of the walkway to resolve the intersection of the pedestrian route above Avenida García Sabell at junction 2 (POCOMACO-Matogrande).

At present, large numbers of pedestrians use the road margins, owing to the presence of several shopping centres, hotels, residential buildings and bus stops. The plan incorporates the environmental adaptation of the road margins and the inclusion of paths enabling complete integration between vehicles, pedestrians and cyclists, ensuring they can all transit through the area in safety. Moreover, the walkway design ensures the permeability of the road infrastructure.

The aim is to increase the humanisation of the section by improving the transit process for pedestrians and cyclists, thereby enhancing their safety and transit experience. The plan also aims to provide both residents and passers-by with a more congenial and attractive environment through the use of physical, visual and acoustic separation. Generally speaking, it is a plan of an eminently urban nature, in which the concept of functionality takes precedence over mobility. The study sought to achieve a balance between the regulatory requirements and recommendations (including the Accessibility Code published by the government of Galicia’s ministry of Social Affairs and the document published by the Spanish ministry of Transport, Mobility and the Urban Agenda (MITMA) on Accessibility in urban public spaces and developing viable solutions whose costs are not disproportionate.

The connection to pedestrian access points near the bus stops and walkways ensures transverse permeability throughout the entire section

Shared use of the road

Prioritising pedestrians, cyclists and public transport users and enabling them to interact with the road in harmony and safety, while providing a quality environment, is one of the priority aims of this action. The area in which the work will be carried out has a gentle gradient of around 5%.

Wherever possible, the paths have been designed with a different elevation to the AC-11 in order to provide a clear differentiation of uses and protect the path users. The plan has made efforts to adapt the road’s longitudinal section to the accessibility requirements, with maximum gradients of 8% and the placement of horizontal intermediate platforms to serve as rest areas where necessary.

The plan includes a review of the bus stops in order to ensure they remain connected to the road and the paths without any interference to or from pedestrians above the road.

A maximum width of five metres was established as a design criterion; however, this was not always possible owing to the fact that buildings and related installations limited the amount of space available on the road margins.

One of the design priorities was to ensure sufficient transverse permeability for the road by incorporating three new walkways and connecting the paths to the existing bus stops, whose design would be adapted in line with current standards with regard to the space required for bays and shelters to protect users.

The plan also takes into account the lighting of the paths and bus shelters, in order to enhance users’ comfort and safety.

Environmental and landscape restoration

Plan of the landscape integration measures for the section of road between the AC-11 and the AC-14.

One of the project’s central aims is to increase the humanisation of this particular section of Avenida Alfonso Molina by improving the transit process for pedestrians and cyclists in their designated zones, thereby enhancing their safety and transit experience. To achieve this, we have physically, visually and acoustically separated the vehicular traffic from the new path and garden areas, in order to provide residents and passers-by with an environment that is more congenial and attractive.

With regard to landscape integration, we have identified 12 zones on the right-hand margin and nine on the left-hand margin where work will be carried out. The selection of species to plant in the garden requires a prior analysis of climatic conditions, the aesthetic and design approach that is to be followed (factors such as colour, leaf fall, texture, appearance, etc.), shade requirements, and references from other areas on Avenida Alfonso Molina where gardens have already been planted, as well as an analysis of the requirements specified by A Coruña Council with regard to:

• Specific requirements of the species chosen.
• Resistance to climatic conditions: water requirements, exposure to sunlight, wind resistance.
• Resistance to environmental conditions: urban pollution, suitable geographical location and altitude.
• Ecological and physiological characteristics: soil properties, texture, moisture, growth rate and longevity, transplanting period and level of difficulty, disease and pest resistance.
• Landscape characteristics and other factors of interest owing to their functional utility: suitability regarding the combination of species; criteria related to colour and seasonal variation; suitability for creating or improving the acoustic conditions of the urban environment; suitability as providers of shade; considerations regarding the production of fruit and seeds and interference in paved areas.

As the area is highly anthropised, the project is not expected to have any significant impact on the existing fauna (wood pigeons, swallows, blackbirds, sparrows and mice).

Likewise, the existing historical and artistic heritage has been respected and none of the current architectural elements (hórreos –traditional raised granaries–, the Seat building, the Coca-Cola factory and the church of San Vicenzo de Elviña) will be directly affected by the project.

The A-76 highway is one of the first road projects in which the BIM (building information modelling) methodology has been applied, a field in which it is not yet very well developed. This has led to an evolution from two- to three-dimensional models with associated information, and working in a collaborative and digital environment that centralises all of project information and makes it possible to overcome existing constraints in terms of information exchange.

The virtual preconstruction of the first of the slip roads of the Villamartín de la Abadía-Requejo section, that of the future A-76 highway connecting to the A-6 highway, was chosen because it is a good representative case. It is a complex slip road in which the lanes of the A-76 separate to connect to the A-6, allowing all possible movements directly. Its design was determined by the topography of the land; additional carriageways connecting to the N-VI and LE-158/15 roads; and the configuration of the A-6 highway’s existing entries and exits. In terms of its most characteristic features, the project has a total length of over 10 kilometres, requires the construction of 11 structures and involves the channelling of the Arroyo de los Valtuilles.

A 3D model was created with geometric and non-geometric information, put together as a puzzle in which the models provided by the disciplines of layout, road surface, land, drainage, structures, affected services and signalling, signs and defences are added using interoperable formats that allow the integration of digital information from a broad ecosystem of tools with which the aforementioned disciplines work.

A ground-breaking project in Spain

In the A-76 project, the BIM world was connected to geographic information systems, for the first time in Spain and virtually the first time in Europe. What both worlds have in common is that they combine geometric elements associated with alphanumeric data (attributes) and, therefore speak a common language. BIM intrinsically focuses on the three-dimensional model of the infrastructure, and GIS, among other aspects, ensures that all other elements are correctly referenced to real coordinates. But the most important thing is that GIS allows the elements to be related to each other, enabling a multitude of analyses to be performed between the data, based on either spatial (spatial topology) and/or semantic relationships.

This provides BIM with an endless number of GIS variables (both 2D and 3D) that it did not have previously and which are essential in all phases. GIS has also contributed to facilitating the understanding of the project and its integration into the environment, without limitations of extension and on multiple scales, in the same three-dimensional scenario. This has been the common framework where all of the elements have fitted together: environmental data, results of hydraulic, noise, fauna, expropriation, land registry studies, etc. The scenario become progressively richer as more data has been integrated, all with spatial reference (coordinates), generating a live and virtual model that is being referred to as the ‘digital twin’.

The BIM methodology has been linked to geographic information systems, resulting in living 3D models that are connected to a physical environment, in what is coming to be referred to as geodesign

Accessible thanks to a 3D GIS viewer

All information is accessible through an online 3D GIS viewer. Customers, technicians, collaborators, contractors or interested users can intuitively consult all of the information of the project by scanning a QR code with a mobile phone, or using the URL and an internet connection via mobile, tablet or computer. The display provides easy and intuitive universal accessibility, making it a new tool for decision making, and also a very powerful communication instrument throughout the different phases of the project.

Through this viewer, BIM and GIS democratise and make the project more accessible in a simple, transparent way, and without the need for training or knowledge of the specific software, which will undoubtedly contribute to its implementation in other projects. This accessibility will result in economic and time savings in the transmission of information to the different parties interested in all phases of the design, as well as decision making.

Especially in public investment projects that are of general interest to the public, social consensus is vital from the early stages in order to streamline future administrative procedures. This new behaviour paradigm is consolidated thanks to technological advances, thus generating new mechanisms for public participation.

This report was made possible thanks to special contributions by Miriam Pinilla and Agustín Roldán, civil engineers; Mirela Vladovic, telecommunications engineer; Laura Martín, geographer y Raquel Veneros, technical architect.