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Calle Alcalá will gain a central promenade and 57 trees between Cibeles and Retiro
The transformation of Calle Alcalá between Cibeles and Plaza de la Independencia is entering a more visible phase. This Monday, 31 August, Madrid recovered the two lanes that had remained occupied since July and maintains the goal that pedestrians will be able, before the end of 2026, to walk along the new central promenade and pass through the arches of Puerta de Alcalá.
The works will not pedestrianise the entire street. When they are complete, Alcalá will retain two lanes for general traffic and one reserved for public transport in each direction. A walkable promenade 3.8 metres wide will run between the two carriageways, visually and physically connecting Cibeles with the monument.
The change will also recover an image of the street that disappeared almost six decades ago. The city council will plant 57 large trees to reconstruct the historic double row lost in the late 1960s when the carriageway was widened. There will also be strips of shrubs on the promenade and pavements.
The north pavement, which carries the greatest pedestrian flow on this section, will be significantly widened. A segregated cycle lane will remain on the south side, and the renovation will renew granite paving, asphalt, street furniture and lighting, which will recover a design inspired by Alcalá’s former street lamps but using LED technology.
The most distinctive transformation will be around Puerta de Alcalá. The roundabout garden will recover part of a late-19th-century layout and new routes will be created so that the monument ceases to function solely as a feature surrounded by traffic. A new pedestrian crossing on the west side will join the existing one on the east and make it possible to reach the central space.
The cycle connection will also change. Alcalá’s new infrastructure will continue along Plaza de la Independencia to connect with the Serrano cycle lane and provide access to Retiro. Public-transport stops will be reorganised and new traffic islands and shelters installed.
For drivers, the most immediate improvement has already happened. Since 31 August, three lanes in each direction have again been available between Cibeles and Independencia: two for general traffic and one for public transport. In Plaza de la Independencia itself, several lanes remain occupied while the works continue.
The total investment is 6.1 million euros and the works began in February. The part covering Alcalá street and the immediate surroundings of Puerta de Alcalá must be completed before the end of 2026, although the whole intervention, which also reaches points such as Alfonso XI and Pedro Muñoz Seca, is expected to continue through the first quarter of 2027.