Getting from Zaragoza to some of the main destinations on the Costa Dorada, such as Tarragona, Salou or Cambrils, can be done in the coming years entirely by motorway and dual carriageway. The project that will complete this route is progressing in Catalonia, where the Ministry of Transport is working on the extension of the A-27 to connect it directly with the AP-2 in Montblanc. An action of just 5.5 kilometres, but key for the movements of many Aragonese to the Tarragona coast.
The action has recently taken a new administrative step. The Ministry for Ecological Transition is still in the environmental process for the project called «A-27 motorway. Section: Lilla link – link with AP-2 in Montblanc», whose consultation period ended on August 10. The infrastructure must now pass the corresponding environmental assessment before moving towards its final development.
A KEY CONNECTION FOR TRAVEL FROM ZARAGOZA
Currently, those who travel from Zaragoza on the AP-2 to Tarragona and the towns on the Costa Dorada must face a less direct connection when arriving in the surroundings of Montblanc. The new infrastructure aims to eliminate this point of discontinuity and facilitate the link between the AP-2 and the A-27, creating a continuous connection by motorway and dual carriageway between Zaragoza and Tarragona.
The General Directorate of Roads itself justified the project by the increase in traffic expected after the elimination of tolls on the AP-2. According to official documentation, the current configuration of the Montblanc junction forces vehicles wanting to access the motorway to leave the N-240, pass through a roundabout and then use a connecting branch. The aim is to rearrange this point and facilitate movements between the N-240, the A-27 and the AP-2.
For Aragonese drivers, the change will have a particularly visible consequence during summer trips. Once the link is completed, it will be possible to travel from Zaragoza to Tarragona and continue to very common destinations such as Salou or Cambrils, staying on motorway and dual carriageway for practically the entire route.
5.5 KILOMETRES TO COMPLETE THE CORRIDOR
The projected section will have an approximate length of 5.5 kilometers, between kilometer points 31.5 and 37 of the current N-240. The solution studied contemplates that, in a large part of the route between Lilla and the junction with the C-14, the N-240 will operate as a service road while the new highway runs in parallel.
The project has several years of history. As early as 2006, the then Ministry of Public Works began to study a motorway between Montblanc and Lleida. That proposal contemplated between 50 and 60 kilometers and an initial budget of 170 million euros, but ended up being reformulated due to its high cost. Subsequently, the Ministry focused the action on the section considered a priority between Lilla and the surroundings of Montblanc.
The study order initially handled an approximate tender budget of 28.6 million euros, VAT included, although this is a preliminary estimate and the final figure may change when the project is closed.
Once the environmental assessment has been passed and the final alternative has been chosen, the Ministry must complete the layout and construction projects before the works can be put out to tender. The action will make it possible to close one of the pending points of the connection between Aragón and Tarragona and will especially facilitate trips from Zaragoza to the Costa Dorada.
