Madrid City Council is allocating €5.2 million to enhance the area around the Vallecas scalextric with five new pedestrian crossings, gardens, and the pedestrianisation of Monte Oliveti street. The works will start in October and last until spring 2028, but will not remove any lanes from the M-30.
The City Council's Governing Board has greenlit the Vallecas Abierto project to reform the area surrounding the scalextric that separates the districts of Retiro and Puente de Vallecas. The intervention, which will involve an investment of €5.2 million, is set to begin this month in October and will extend until spring 2028, as announced by Deputy Mayor Inmaculada Sanz.
The project includes the creation of five new pedestrian crossings, the planting of 48 trees and 10,000 shrubs, the installation of vertical gardens, and the pedestrianisation of Monte Oliveti street. The bus bays of the EMT under the bridge will also be reorganised, with three new stops (lines 8, 41, and 113), the relocation of four (37, 58, 111, and 113), and the maintenance of five (8, 41, 58, 111, and 113).
The Deputy Mayor defended the action: "We have done what can be done at this time there." Sanz added that it is "a beautiful and appropriate project" aimed at "mitigating noise," although she did not detail additional noise measures beyond the existing acoustic barriers.
The plan does not contemplate the removal of any traffic lanes. The area currently maintains 20 lanes for motor vehicles: eight on the bridge, six at ground level (since 1976), and six underground in the bypass of the M-30, operational since 2004. All will remain operational after the reform.
Under the bridge, a municipal facility will be constructed that, according to the mayor, could be "a rehearsal room," in addition to a space for Madrid Calle 30 and the EMT. These facilities could complicate a hypothetical future dismantling of the scalextric, as they would compromise the continuity of those public spaces.
The works will be carried out by the Area of Works and Equipment and will also include the widening of the pavements on Avenida de la Paz and Calle Monte Ulía, as well as the placement of flowerbeds with trees at the edges of the roadway to protect pedestrian spaces from traffic. This information has been reported by elDiario.es.
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