News
The M-30 tunnel reopens and the A-5 enters the final stretch of its major transformation
Drivers leaving Madrid on the A-5 once again have a key connection available. The M-30 tunnel running under Avenida de Portugal reopened on Monday 24 August after three weeks of total closure, an intervention that has prepared the way for the future link with the new motorway underground section.
The closure began on 3 August and affected traffic leaving the capital. During those 21 days, the concrete slab of the old ramp was demolished, excavation reached the final level, and the new structure was built to provide continuity to the M-30 tunnel and the A-5 tunnel.
One of the most visible operations was the installation of 14 beams, 30 metres long and of great weight. The pieces span the space between the northern and southern abutments and required the whole width of the carriageway to be occupied, which is why the Ayuntamiento concentrated this work during August, when traffic decreases.
The reopening now restores normality to this junction, but it does not mean that the works have ended. The new tunnel that will place the A-5 underground has already been excavated in both directions, and September is expected to see the civil engineering completed and the urbanisation of the space to be freed at surface level begun.
The next major moment will come at the end of November or beginning of December. Then another closure will be necessary to definitively connect the new tunnel with the Calle 30 underground route and integrate systems such as ventilation, cameras, emergency exits and control equipment.
The works form part of Paseo Verde del Suroeste, a transformation costing more than 400 million euros that will cover the A-5 along 3.2 kilometres. The project affects about 100,000 square metres and seeks to better connect Latina neighbourhoods with Campamento and Casa de Campo, eliminating much of the barrier the motorway has represented for decades.
More than 80,000 vehicles travel along this corridor every day. When the new tunnel enters service, the Ayuntamiento expects to reduce traffic remaining on the surface by around 90% and turn the freed-up space into a green corridor connected with Madrid Río, Casa de Campo and Cuña Verde de Latina.
For now, the change drivers notice is much more immediate: one of the diversions that marked August disappears and the usual exit towards the A-5 is operating again. Beneath that restored normality, one of the elements that will, before the end of the year, definitively change the way of entering and leaving Madrid from the south-west is already ready.