road

The DGT has found the perfect example of why road works kill on the road

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Rush is never good, and even less so when it can have fatal consequences. Despite this, every day we see examples on the road similar to the one we bring today, where in a video We see a driver who was traveling at 168 km/h in a section with a limit reduced to 40 km/h due to works. The case, detected by a Pegasus helicopter of the Civil Guard, has been the most serious of a special surveillance campaign that has left more than 15,000 complaints in a single week. What has happened? Just like they count From El Mundo, the General Directorate of Traffic deployed between June 22 and 28 an operation dedicated to the road sections affected by maintenance, conservation works or changes to the layout. During those seven days, the agents of the Traffic Group of the Civil Guard controlled 233,506 vehicles, of which 15,460 ended up being reported for breaking some rule in areas with works. Click on the image to go to the video The fact that attracts the most attention. The most extreme case involved a vehicle captured by a Pegasus helicopter traveling at 168 km/h at a point where the general speed was 90 km/h, but due to the presence of works it had a temporary limit of 40 km/h. That is, the driver was going more than four times faster than what was allowed on that specific stretch. Danger behind the wheel. In these sections of works there may be workers working very close to the road, machinery entering and exiting, narrower lanes and temporary signage. Reducing the speed there serves precisely to have more room to react to any unforeseen event. It makes all the sense in the world, but still, it is quite common to see some drivers ignoring the signs. The underlying problem. This example was the star violation of the entire campaign. According to data from the DGT collected According to El Mundo, around 90% of the complaints made during these seven days were related to not respecting the specific limits of the areas under construction. This connects with the accident figures that the organization manages. And provisionally, the DGT counted 154 accidents in maintenance and conservation sections during 2025, of which 26 affected operators who were outside their vehicles, on the road or its surroundings. The majority of these accidents are accidents caused by drivers not involved in the work itself, and speed appears as the factor that most influences them. It wasn’t all speed. The campaign also brought to light other types of risky behavior. 204 drivers were reported for not respecting the signs on sections under construction, 135 for using their cell phones while driving and 68 more for other types of distractions, such as wearing headphones. Added to this are 71 complaints for improper overtaking, 17 for incorrect lane changes, 13 for negligent driving and another 13 for reckless driving, according to collect the middle. There was also no shortage of infractions related to basic safety elements, as there were 135 sanctions for not wearing a seat belt, 5 for not wearing a helmet and another 5 for not using child seats. The list is completed with 58 positive alcohol tests and 39 positive drug tests. What is the DGT doing to avoid it. Beyond specific control campaigns, Traffic is also beginning to rely on new technology to reinforce safety on these stretches. For example, recently the first models of connected conesdevices capable of warning in real time of the presence of works so that the driver can anticipate and adapt their speed before reaching the conflict point. The idea is that this type of devices (cones, V-16 beaconsinformation on screen on the roads) can offer centralized information through DGT 3.0a connected platform accessible by the organization itself, connected cars, manufacturers, navigators, assistance services and more. The objective is for this information to help prevent accidents or warn of sections under construction, traffic jams, vehicles on the road and so on. Cover image | Jorge Franganillo In Xataka | The AP-7 has not had tolls for four years. Now the Government is studying whether to recover them or spend 500 million to expand it

It is updated in real time with each incident on the road

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in summer road trips multiply. Most drivers trust Google Maps either waze to guide you on the journey because they give precise directions and also provide real-time traffic information. Although both apps are very complete and practical options, There is an additional tool that is interesting to consult if you are going to travel by car for Spain. We talk about DGT traffic mapa web tool where you can check the status of the roads in real time. In it you will be able to see every incident, from accidents, blocked roads, construction sites and much more. Constantly updated with all road incidents Apps like Google Maps or Waze are powered by user data. This means that if it warns you about an accident or a section of roadworks, it is because another driver has indicated so. It also uses information from other vehicles to determine if there is a traffic jam or delay at a specific point. On the other hand, the DGT map draws directly from the information of the DGT itself, which has a network of cameras, aerial systems and of course traffic agents through the Traffic Group of the Civil Guard. In this sense, your map It will reflect incidents more quickly and, above all, more accurately.. For example, we can know what time a traffic jam started or when an accident occurred and even how many lanes have been cut. This is what the map looks like on mobile The downside, and what it does not surpass Maps and Waze, is that it is not a navigation application that we can use while driving, but rather it will touch Consult it before starting to drive. To access the DGT map you must enter the website infocar.dgt.es/etrafficWEB from the browser and either give it location permissions or directly zoom in on the area we want to consult. On the map we will find a lot of icons marking the different incidents on the road. By default everything is checked, but if we only want to check the retentions or if there is an accident, just click on the icon with the three lines (top right) and a menu will open with all the types of incidents so that we can select only those that interest us. By clicking on an incident we can obtain many details. When we click on one of the incidents on the map, A window opens with all the details of it. For example, in this case it notifies us of a vehicle stopped on the A7 heading south and even tells us that it started at 08:27 in the morning. In the event that the incident has closed a lane, it also indicates this. There is more and the map shows us the traffic on the roads with a color code. If when we zoom in we see that there is a section of the road in red, it means that the traffic is denser than if it is orange or yellow. Additionally, by clicking on the fire flame icon at the top right we can see the fires that have caused road closures. The main drawback of the DGT map is that, as we said, It is a website and its interface is not the most polished in the world. Consulting it from your mobile phone is somewhat uncomfortable, although it adapts well to the screen and is functional. It is not a map designed to be consulted on the road, but rather information to review before setting off. Images | Xataka In Xataka | An expert finds the key: “It is not the wild boars that cross our roads, it is our roads that cross their habitats”

It turns out that in France there is a road that the Atlantic floods twice a day. By crossing it, you risk a ransom

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On the Cantabrian coast in the summer it is relatively common for a tourist’s vehicle to end up taking a dip when they park where they shouldn’t, but in the Passage du Gois In France there is no surprise factor: the road sinks when the tide rises, something that happens twice a day. Given the risk, it would be worth considering closing that route and using the alternative Noirmoutier bridgebut there are many people here who have come to play: in 2021 exactly 387,823 vehicles passed by, according to data from the Noirmoutier Tourist Office. If you’re one of those people who ventures out, the landscape is already iconic: the Tour de France has started there on several occasions. Now there is a road, now there is not. The Passage du Gois is 4,125 kilometers long and runs through Bourgneuf Bay, literally in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. On one side is the island of Noirmoutier and the connection with the rest of the continent takes place in Beauvoir-sur-Mer, near Nantes. This infrastructure belongs to the D948 network of the Vendée department. The passage or not is determined by the tides: according to the tidal coefficient That day, the road is covered by between 1.30 and 4 meters of water at each high tide. The Passage du Gois on Google Maps To pass or not to pass, that is the question. Step recommendations from the local tourist office are enough to make you think twice before crossing: if the tide coefficient is high, you have 90 minutes before and after low tide. When the coefficient is low, the margin is reduced so much that it is recommended to cross only at the exact moment of low tide. If you measure wrong, you’re risking it: four kilometers can be fatal. The good news is that Since the 19th century there have been nine safety beacons where you can leave the car and wait for the tide to go out or the emergency services to arrive. Spoiler: every year there are cars that end badly. Everything is signposted, but the authorities They have encountered another enemy unexpected: the GPS, which does not indicate low tides or weather conditions. Be very careful if you are one of those people who follows what Google Maps says to the letter. The movements of the tides in the Passage du Gois. Marine Hydrographic and Oceanographic Service Why build a road there?. Short answer: because nature put it there. Not so short answer: the origin of the Passage du Gois is geological: it was formed by the convergence of two opposite currents, one from the northwest influenced by the Loire estuary and another from the south influenced by the Atlantic. Both are found on the island and slow down there, producing a phenomenon known as wantijthat is, the deposition of particles at that point of collision of the currents, which causes the seabed to rise until it forms that natural back on which the roadway was planted. Building it was not easy or fast. Paving the road lasted five yearsfrom 1935 to 1939, which sounds truly outrageous even though it is almost a century old. The reason is that the works had to be carried out during low tide, which greatly limited the daily work time to two daily periods in a period of about two hours. From then on, the road was passable for vehicles on its already characteristic cement slabs. Since then, several sections have been subject to different paving tests that have never come to fruition. A future that looks very blue black. The Passage du Gois floodable road is neither the first nor the longest, but it is one of the first candidates to disappear in the immediate future. Considering sea level rise projections provided by the IPCC of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, will be between 0.38 and 0.77 meters by 2100, with different emissions scenarios starting in 2050. This implies that roads like this will see their safe operating window progressively reduced, making it increasingly unviable and dangerous. In Xataka | “We have six kilometers that have melted due to the heat”: in the face of extreme temperatures, France needs to Spanishize its roads In Xataka | If we already feared about the state of our roads, we have one more reason to worry: the price of asphalt is skyrocketing Cover | Pinpin and Florian Pepellin

open a ghost road that almost no one uses

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A mousetrap. This is how José Manuel Tofiño, mayor of Illescas, defines the A-42 highway that connects Madrid with Toledo. The road runs collapsed every day but next to it it has the most underused toll road in Spain. The claim is obvious. The answer, so far, too. Maddening. It is one of the terms that best defines the journey that thousands of drivers make every day on the A-42 towards Madrid. And in the direction of Toledo. Because back and forth, morning and afternoon, there is only one reality on the A-42 highway: it is clogged. Although neighborhood and political complaints are once again on the table, congestion on the A-42 has been critical for years. Already in 2020the representatives of the Popular party of the Community of Madrid and the affected municipalities of Toledo demanded measures from the Executive. Now they are the PSOE politicians those who demand solutions. What’s happening? Simply, the A-42 is clogged daily while the A-41, which runs parallel, is empty. According to data collected by The Countrythe A-42 has an average traffic flow of up to 90,000 vehicles per day at some points, while the payment option barely exceeds 2,000 vehicles. The figure has even been growing in recent years given that the neighboring free highway is completely overflowing. And a little over a decade ago the cars that passed through the A-41 was less than a thousand a day. The situation has even been causing for years delays on adjacent roads. National roads that drivers try to use as a means of escape from the highway. Because? Although the A-42 has been living in an extreme situation for years, the problem has become entrenched in recent years. The A-42 is a road that connects Madrid and Toledo passing through La Sagra. It is an area close to Madrid known for cities where a good part of the workers go to Madrid daily, such as Illescas and Yeles (Toledo) or Torrejón de la Calzada and Parla (Madrid). Next to the city, the road runs through Getafe. A good part of those workers left Madrid during the real estate bubble before 2008 looking for larger houses and at more affordable prices. However, the current housing crisis has once again caused Madrid residents look favorably on these towns south of the city. The cranes, for example, have returned to Seseñaclassic bubble burst image. But, in addition, together with Illescas, a logistics center has been promoted that has become one of the great merchandise hubs in the center of the peninsula. This has also triggered the transport of heavy vehicles, which complicates circulation even more. Precisely, The proximity of the A-42 is one of the great attractions to carry the goods there on the way to Madrid. make it free. Therefore, in their latest claims, regional politicians ask that the A-41 be opened to all vehicles to alleviate the situation on the A-42. The measure they propose is very simple: if one road is empty and the other is collapsed, let it be liberalized. The problem is that the concession for the A-41 does not expire until 2040. At the moment, the road is completely free from 0:00 to 6:00, which is an alternative to the first to hit the road. However, local voices They attribute this to the intention of the concessionaire company to save workers’ salaries and emphasize that at that time it is not a problem to travel on the A-42 since it is first thing in the morning when it gets stuck. Or at least public transportation. In his report, in The Countrycollect the testimony of Alberto Blázquez, a 28-year-old computer scientist and resident of Palomeque (near the A-42) who takes his car to Illescas and, from there, takes a train to Fuenlabrada (Madrid) and makes a transfer to get to Atocha and thus ends up arriving at his workplace. This is what some workers have opted for when they see that it takes the same time by public transport as by car. What they propose is that the Cercanías network be expanded to Illescas to facilitate the train connection with the city and that bus connections be improved, which right now, other voices point out in that same report, are also overwhelmed since they left Madrid. These claims, as well as the construction of a third lane from Parla, are the requests that residents and Madrid residents have been demanding for years. So far, the only thing that has changed is that the problem is even more serious. Photo | Miguel Angel Masegosa Martínez and DGT In Xataka | The longest straight road in the world is a mental challenge: 240 km without curves, in the middle of the desert and with truck traffic

transforming desert sand into the cheapest and most durable road material in Africa

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Honda is experiencing one of its most complicated moments. On the one hand, it has canceled several launches of its electric cars in North America, has paralyzed the development of Afeela which it developed in collaboration with Sony and has announced losses of around $15.7 billion. Now they are in a moment of restructuring to get out of the slump, but they have not left aside some of their most experimental projects. One of them is PathAhead, a startup that emerged from its internal incubator that has presented a construction material made of desert sand with which it intends to pave roads in Africa. The problem they want to solve. Only about 20% of African roads are paved, according to data from Honda itself. This figure has a direct impact on the region’s economy, since in the end a place where transportation access is difficult makes logistics more expensive, limits access to markets and slows down development. Furthermore, according to the firm, conventional materials for road construction (natural sand and crushed stone) present variations in resistance depending on their geological origin, which makes it difficult to guarantee uniform quality. The solution: desert sand turned into arid. As we have mentioned before, the company behind this project is called PathAhead, and it has developed a material that it calls Rising Sand. The company describes it as the world’s first artificial aggregate made from desert sand. The process consists of agglomerating fine grains of sand (about 100 micrometers in diameter) into larger, more uniform particles using heat and pressure, increasing their resistance. Image: Nikkei Asia The result, according to the company, is roads with a useful life of more than 20 years, double that of those built with conventional materials, and a life cycle cost that is 60% lower, according to its estimates. The deployment plan. PathAhead plans to begin demonstration trials in Kenya in 2027, followed by Tanzania and South Africa. If the results are positive, mass production will begin in 2028 in its own factory in that country. The startup’s financial goal is to reach revenue of $270 million by 2034. The company has so far raised about 136 million yen (approximately $850,000), with Honda as one of its investors. Where PathAhead comes from. The startup was born within the Ignition program, which Honda launched in 2017 to encourage the creation of new businesses among its employees. Masayuki Iga, its founder and CEO, worked for years at Honda’s research center developing automotive materials. “I created PathAhead with the desire to apply the technologies and knowledge accumulated in that experience to directly address the challenges of our society,” declared Iga during the presentation in Tokyo. Why it draws attention now. Sling has increased its spending on R&D by 55% in the last five years, to exceed one trillion yen in the recently closed fiscal year. That the company maintains and even expands its commitment to internal innovation while undergoing a profound restructuring of its core business is, at the very least, a sign that it does not want to reduce its long-term bets. If PathAhead can prove that its material works on an industrial scale, it could become more than just an experimental project. We’ll see if it ends up having a place in the industry. Cover image | Sling In Xataka | The car industry has condemned the manual gear shift to extinction. A company wants to avoid it: BMW

paint a road red

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There is nothing like installing a speed radar (or simply warning it) to make a driver take their foot off the accelerator. But there is a more effective method: painting the road. It has been proven that when we see colors, lines and shapes painted on the asphalt, drivers slow down. So in India they have not thought twice. That’s why they painted the road red. Because? Madhya Pradesh is known as “the Heart of India”. The region has been growing at a good pace for some time, especially supported by tourism that is attracted by its ruins, its temples and a truly striking nature. But this region is also famous for something else: tigers. And those tigers are the reason India is building “the first red road”. Or what is the same, two kilometers where the asphalt has been painted a striking red color with the aim of alerting drivers and reminding them that they are traveling through a space where tigers, one of the protected animals in the area, roam freely. Veerangana Durgavati Tiger Reserve. A wildlife sanctuary. This is how they define the website from this reserve to the area in which the road we are talking about is located. An area of ​​about 2,339 km² where tigers but also bears, leopards and wild dogs roam. The problem is that the NH-45 highway also runs through that space, a road that connects Bhopal and Jabalpur, two cities with a total of more than four million people if their metropolitan areas are added. Click on the image to go to the original post A road painted red. One of the solutions devised has been to paint the road red to signal to drivers that they are passing through a particularly sensitive space. The road has been renovated to redirect animal traffic to 25 underpasses and 11 cameras control that they do not sneak onto the asphalt. However, one of the most effective measures is to paint the road with huge red squares. And although various measures can be taken to reduce speed on a road, painting the asphalt is one of the simplest in terms of effort and money invested. In Spain, the DGT is trying to paint some sections with a huge red line. In Catalonia (the DGT has no powers there), try the same with circles at the entrance to curves to warn motorists. And in the United States it has been proven that painting the streets is a good method to protect children and prevent accidents. Our brain. In this case, in addition to being painted, the squares also create a small noise in the tires to convey to the driver a greater obligation to take their foot off the accelerator. However, it’s just about tricking our brain. When a road is painted with squares of this type or a red line is added in the center, the perception we have as drivers is that the lane is narrower and, almost immediately, we lift our foot off the accelerator a little when we perceive that it is more unsafe to travel at the same speed than on an asphalt that has not been modified. It is, simply, a sensory illusion. Playing with the shapes and their sizes is enough for the driver to understand that something is happening there and that he should take his foot off the accelerator. In some Spanish cities like Madrid they have what are known as “dragon teeth” on streets with schools or hospitals to create the sensation that they are narrower and make drivers lift their feet. and it works. The most surprising thing is how something so simple delivers results. In Bloomberg pointed out a long time ago that the city of New York implemented Asphalt Art Initiativeto draw enormous murals at the most conflictive intersections in the city. After painting them, drivers began to pass more slowly and the number of serious injuries after a hit went from 50% to 37%. Something similar was used in a Beuné crossing (a town located near Angers, western France). There, his neighbors, tired of the town’s road being crossed as if it were a highway, decided to paint the ground. The result was immediate, the cars took their foot off the accelerator. Photo | Veerangana Durgavati Tiger Reserve and Google Maps In Xataka | A huge red line: the DGT’s experimental measure in one of the most dangerous stretches in Spain

There is only something more intimidating, dangerous and outside of road regulations than a Cybertruck: a Russian Cybertruck

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A Russian startup has recently presented what Tesla has not dared to create: an electric van with the same angular design and stainless steel body that characterizes the Cybertruck. It’s called Russo-Balt F200.was recently sighted in the country and already has a production date for January 2027. A particular project. From the middle CarScoops they count that it is not a simple prototype or a digital render. And the F200 already circulates through the streets snowfall in Russia, and specifically it was sighted in the city of Perm. The company has revived the name of Russo-Balt, a historic Russian automobile and railroad car manufacturer that operated between 1869 and 1918, to give life to this project that mixes a bit of industrial heritage with futuristic aesthetics. In detail. The F200 measures 5,950 mm long, 2,000 mm wide and 2,550 mm high. It has a monocoque structure, unusual in vans of this size that usually use ladder chassis, and supports a payload of up to 1,000 kg. The startup counted The stainless steel panels are hand-welded and, although the body comes unpainted, buyers will be able to customize it with polyurethane wraps in various colors and graphics. under the hood. A 200 HP electric motor drives the front wheels, powered by a 115 kWh battery that promises 400 kilometers of autonomy. According to account In the middle, the van supports direct current fast charging through a port located on the front fender. Standard equipment includes ABS, ESP, climate control, rear air suspension and a 360-degree camera system. The startup insists that practically all surfaces are heated: seats, steering wheel, mirrors and even the windshield wipers, especially thinking about the harsh Russian winters. A possible Chinese brother. Initially it was debated that the vehicle could be a modified version of the V90a van from the Chinese company Weiqiao New Energy. However, Russo-Balt insists that the F200 is his own design. The company highlights that its team has previous experience in the manufacture of stainless steel water dispensers, knowledge that they now apply to the production of the vehicle, which they confirm will be made to order. Between the lines. Following the massive withdrawal of Western manufacturers from the country following the invasion of Ukraine, Chinese brands They have quickly occupied that space and now represent the majority of new car sales in Russia. The F200 perhaps represents an attempt to once again develop local production capacity with a product that is, of course, very striking. How to get one. The price is set at 6.5 million rubles, approximately 72,400 euros at the exchange rate. The company asks for a refundable deposit of about 10,000 rubles, about 111 euros. Russo-Balt also offers a curious 100-year warranty for stainless steel panels. It’s a fairly ambitious figure, but also difficult to verify even considering that the car hasn’t even gone into production yet. And now what. Russo-Balt is already working on a second modelthe F400, which will incorporate a gasoline engine as a range extender and all-wheel drive through two electric motors, adding 400 HP of combined power. It will also add front air suspension to the rear that already includes the F200. Although no pricing details have been revealed, this model targets a more premium segment. It remains to be seen if the startup delivers on its promises and if demand follows. In Xataka | You can now bid on the most exclusive Ford GT prototype in history. The only handicap is that you won’t be able to drive it.

China is filling up with “quadricycles” that do not require a driving license. And they are a problem for road safety

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The two times I have been to China, two things about its automobile fleet have caught my attention: the furor for electric cars in terms of brands, models and dealerships, because you can almost find one on every corner of any central street in the big cities. And on the other side of the coin, I was also struck by the enormous amount of motorbikes (scooter is saying a lot) and cars without licenses parked in any side and circulating any manner. Don’t call it a light quadricycle, rather say laotoule. There they are known as “laotoule”, something like that like the joy of the old man. Because if in Spain the light quadricycles you see are usually driven by older people, in China too. They began to be seen back in the 90s from tuk-tuk modifications three wheels in rural areas, although today they have capacity for up to five people and a very diverse aesthetic. From occasional mobility to a vehicle for everything. Although the older ones are the star group, they are not the only ones: they are vehicles with very clear profiles of occasional use and short and (relatively) simple trajectories. As collects China Dailythese vehicles are the main means of transportation for running errands or picking up elderly grandchildren, but in recent years they have expanded their range to younger people: they offer a closed space and solve the problem of having to travel at a low cost. According to the China Electric Vehicle Associationannual sales of these lightweight non-highway quadricycles increased from 1.1 million in 2017 to 2.1 million in 2023, of which 1.4 million went to seniors. According to an investigation According to Banyuetan, the magazine linked to the official Chinese news agency Xinhua, these cars are flooding rural roads and urban peripheries. And its proliferation has aroused the suspicion of the authorities. The legal vacuum of laotoule. Because unlike Spain, where any motor vehicle requires a technical sheet and a license plate, in China they have been marketed as if they were devices for personal mobility, something like a scooter or an electric wheelchair. Thus, the bulk of laotoule are sold without registration or approval or the need to pass your MOT. In fact, they are increasingly sold online. like low cost imitations of luxury cars. There is even a Porsche Cayenne without a license. Because there are brands and models of Chinese electric cars to bore, in a light quadricycle version, too. In fact, There are even Maseratis and Porsche Cayenne modelsor rather, Maserati style and Porsche style, because they are not official from the respective houses. And because the Maserati costs about 3,200 euros in exchange. Is take a look at the Alibaba website and find models for all tastes, such as this Mini. Also There is a version without a license of Xiaomi’s second electric car, the ambitious Xiaomi YU7as you can see below these lines. From afar they hit the mark, up close already such. Under that attractive bodywork they hide electric motors of low or medium power and a top speed of up to 70 km/h. Tap to go to the post. The card-free version of the Xiaomi YU7 The real problem is road safety. Leaving aside industrial property issues, laotoules look like miniature cars but they are not: they lack basic elements that are found in passenger cars, such as steel frames or airbags. The Banyuetan report echoes of a fatal hit by a 59-year-old driver in a laotule in Hebei, northern China. From prohibition to regulation. Some local administrations have already made a move: since January 1, 2024, cities such as Luoyang or Beijing banned circulation on public roads to low-speed three- and four-wheel electric vehicles. However, there is a middle way: China issued a regulation of technical specifications and safety requirements for electric vehicles, finally classifying laoutoule as motor vehicles. From here and as explained by Lu Yong, researcher in the low-speed electric vehicle sector for Sixth Tone: “We must recognize the real demand for low-speed vehicles and strengthen the design at national level, both for industry development and traffic management. Clear and enforceable rules must be quickly introduced for both product and driving standards, as well as for road access.” In Xataka | China has so many electric cars running on its streets that it is going to use them to generate energy for homes In Xataka | China is the only country in the world where car prices are falling. So much so that the Government is taking measures

is not to collapse the road

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Although each mega-construction that occurs always represents a technical challenge, doing so on one of the busiest points in Spain makes the process even more difficult. The one of Sales Park aims to build a park of more than 16,000 square meters on 16 traffic lanes at the point with the highest vehicle intensity in Spain. Hence the challenge, since the operation must advance without collapsing Madrid. Night operations. Raising a 197-meter structure supported by 128 pillars on the M-30 is complex, but feasible. Just like they count From El Mundo, the truly complicated thing is to do it without paralyzing the traffic of a city of more than three million inhabitants. Javier Nájera, head of the City Council’s structures service, told the media that working on that stretch during the day could cause traffic jams of up to 14 hours a day. That is why they decided to concentrate the most critical works in summer, when traffic intensity drops by 40%, and carry out the most delicate operations at night. Technical challenge. At night, two cranes weighing more than 500 tons take position on the M-30 to advance the construction process. According to counted Nájera in the middle, nothing more than the assembly of these cranes requires about four hours, but they are very useful for lifting concrete beams of up to 200 tons and 40 meters in length. The structure requires 96 of these beams, and at six in the morning of each day worked, everything must be collected as if nothing had happened so as not to hinder traffic. Huge beams that force a plant to close. The beams arrive from factories in Rivas Vaciamadrid and Seville. According to what they tell the media, this is because the Community of Madrid does not have more production capacity for this type of structural elements. Manufacturing a single beam of these characteristics requires the complete closure of an industrial plant. Nájera tells El Mundo that transportation from Andalusia is more expensive, but it would be unfeasible to produce them in a single factory for the pace they need. Rehabilitation. During the initial excavation, pools of water appeared on the hard ground that were not foreseen in the geotechnical studies, Nájera told the outlet. The work had to be readjusted on the fly. Unforeseen events are common in this type of construction, but when working on the main traffic artery in Spain, each day of delay multiplies their impact. In fact, the start of construction on the last day of June coincided with several accidents that caused significant delays, a brief reminder of how tight the margin of error can be. Prepare the land for 1,060 trees. The future platform will support 110,031 tons, including permanent loads and intended uses. Najera account that would resist even the passage of tanks crossing from one side to the other. For the park to function, a triple layer of waterproofing will be installed with asphalt sheets, anti-root meshes and a system of aeration cells so that the trees can grow and develop without problems. The same method was also used in Madrid Río. Eight walkways to save centuries-old cedars. The intention is to connect both banks of the M-30 through eight pedestrian walkways that will meander to avoid damaging the ancient cedars. These walkways will connect the Quinta de la Fuente del Berro park with the green area of ​​Ciudad Lineal, a corridor that would benefit more than 140,000 residents. The lanes are now open, but a lot of work remains. The M-30 recovered all its lanes operational a month and a half in advance of what was planned. Traffic effects are now limited to nighttime hours, although speed is still limited to 50 km/h on this stretch. Of the 128 piles that will support the roof, 73 have already been installed, and the first transverse beams began to be placed at the end of November. With an investment of 78.9 million euros, the project is scheduled to be completed by spring 2027. What comes next. Once the main structure is completed, the installation of the garden areas, playgrounds, calisthenics elements, a small outdoor auditorium, kiosks and LED lighting systems will begin. Of course, until the park shows its first trees, there is still work to do. Cover image | Google Maps In Xataka | The collapse of the most famous bridge in history not only ended the life of a dog: it also changed engineering forever

Madrid had a plan to put all cars without a DGT label off the road in 2026. It has changed its mind

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In 2024 it was December 12. In 2025 it was December 11. 20 days after all cars without a label were prohibited from entering the city of Madrid, the capital’s City Council has once again confirmed that those who are registered in Madrid will be able to continue driving for another year. That is to say, like last yearwith less than three weeks left before the ban would exclude unlabeled cars registered in Madrid and those registered outside the city, the City Council has extended the extension that will allow them to continue circulating. So, who can and cannot circulate in Madrid? What does the great ZBE that is now Madrid look like? In September 2024, a figure began to move: 1.2 million cars circulating in Madrid were going to be left out if the ban on any car without an environmental label circulating in the capital was activated, as planned, in 2025. This figure was, as we contrast in Xatakafalse. Or inaccurate, at least. In reality, the Madrid City Council estimated that there were 246,000 vehicles that were going to be left out of circulation in the city. This year, The figure that had moved was 300,000 cars which does not seem real because it would imply that the vehicle fleet of gasoline with more than 25 years and diesel with more than 19 years has grown in the city in the last year. In fact, Borja Caravante, delegate of Urban Planning, Environment and Mobility, has assured that prohibiting the circulation of cars without environmental label of registered in Madrid would only affect about 14,000 or 15,000 vehicles, according to words collected by The Country. The Madrid City Council alleges, therefore, that the measure would have a “low impact” and that they therefore prefer to extend the exception to the rule. Whatever the vehicles may be, the truth is that if the ban were applied, no car without a label could circulate in the capital, regardless of whether or not the car is registered in the city. And the thing is, right now, the only cars without a label that can circulate in Madrid are those registered in the city. That is, it is not enough to reside in the capital, it is necessary that the car be registered in the city. If not, there is no possibility of moving with a car without a label except for few exceptions, such as going to a hotel in the city. In summary, right now there are two possibilities for cars without a label and they will remain active next year: If the car is registered in Madrid: it can circulate If the car is not registered in Madrid: it cannot circulate In addition, it must be taken into account that cars without a label (whether or not they are registered in the capital) cannot enter the Central District Special Protection Low Emission Zone (what was previously Central Madrid). Only cars with an environmental label can enter this space. Of these, in addition, the B and C labels have the obligation to park in a parking lot, so only the ECO and Zero emissions vehicles have total freedom of movement. If you want to know more details, in this Guide to know if your car will be able to circulate through the Madrid ZBE in 2026 We clarify all these concepts. Photo | Jordi Moncasi and NuKi Chikhladze In Xataka | The intrigue of cars with the DGT B label: what we know about whether or not they will be able to enter large cities

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