SUPPORT FOR LOCAL ADMINISTRATIONS TO HELP AVOID TERRITORIAL FRAGMENTATION GENERATED
BY LARGE TRANSPORT INFRASTRUCTURES IN THE GIRONA DEMARCATION (CATALONIA)
1 First
Vice President of CILMA
of Environment and Territory for the Girona Regional
Council and Technical Secretary of CILMA
3 CILMA: The Council of Local Initiatives for the Environment of the
Girona Region. Santa Eugènia, 10, 4 - 17001 Girona (Catalonia)
Webpage: http://www.cilma.cat Contact: [email protected]
Jesús Llauró 1, Jaume Hidalgo 2, Judit Vilà 3, Diego Varga 4 & Josep Vila 5
2 Coordinator
CILMA: The Council of Local Initiatives for the Environment of the Girona Region (Consell d’Iniciatives Locals per al
Medi Ambient de les comarques de Girona), is an association of local organisations formed by the Girona Regional
Council in 1999 to promote sustainable development in municipal policy and management. It currently comprises over
180 of the Demarcation’s 221 municipalities, the 8 regional councils and the Girona Regional Council itself.
Methodology
4,5 Department
of Geography (Universitat de Girona) Plaça Ferrater
Mora, 1 - 17071 Girona (Spain) ([email protected] &
[email protected])
Several studies and reports commissioned by the Girona Regional Council and CILMA have been compiled to illustrate the
importance of conserving and connecting the open spaces surrounding the infrastructure corridor. To guarantee technical quality,
the commissions received the external multidisciplinary assessment of engineers with expertise in public works, environmental
planning consultants, a legal cabinet specialised in environmental issues and scientists from the Universitat de Girona.
Introduction
The Girona Demarcation sits in the extreme northeast corner of the Iberian Peninsula. It spans an area of
5,905.45 Km2 and has a population density of 126.63 inhabitants/ Km2. This region, due to the confluence and
convergence of the Mediterranean, Atlantic and Eurosiberian phytogeographic regions, exhibits a markedly
diverse landscape and biodiversity. Natural areas of great natural interest constitute over 70% of its territory, half
of which are protected by some manner of legal protection, albeit in an independent and isolated manner, without
considering their necessary interaction. The natural heritage therein contained, a prime economic asset
comprised of a complex mosaic of reduced, remarkably fragile areas, requires the formation of a continuous
territorial network of open, rural and natural areas.
The Demarcation is traversed, from north to south, by a series of four parallel road and railway infrastructures:
the AP-7 Toll Highway, the A-2 Highway, the conventional railway line between Barcelona and Portbou and the
new High Speed Rail (TGV) line. Currently, both the AP-7 and A-2 are being worked on, wherefore respective
extension and widening projects are under way. The main problem lies in the fragmentation of the territory and,
due to the complete lack of joint and efficient permeability measures and faulty coordination from the
corresponding administrations, the accumulative barrier effect they generate, as this represents the main link
between the Iberian Peninsula and the rest of Europe.
The affected locations decided to undertake joint action within the CILMA policy framework, given that supporting
local administrations in promoting the sustainable installation of transport infrastructures is one of this advising
body’s primary objectives.
Since 2003, in an effort to minimise each infrastructure’s barrier effect, a number of successive technical
proposals, agreed upon by all local organisations, have been presented to the Spanish Government’s Ministry of
Public Works. A request/requirement has also been formulated to provide the necessary restoration of the 24
identified socio-ecological corridors legal grounds. All approaches defended for each transport route hold a
special coherence between them. Thus, the proposal to correct the AP-7 and A-2, still awaiting response from
the corresponding ministers, completes a series of structures that enable the measures successfully adopted for
the TGV in 2006 to function correctly.
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FRANCE
The action proposals included a number of route changes, as, for example, in adjusting the TGV route within the townships
around the Fluvià River, while ensuring it coincides with the AP-7 and A-2 corridor on the same side of Bàscara’s urban centre.
This formula entailed safeguarding an area of great ecological value from destruction, while not affecting the surrounding area’s
historic nuclei. The proposal was not accepted, resulting in the disappearance of riverside vegetation, the destruction of
hydrogeologic formations of primary interest and the drying of the Cassinyola stream, which, historically, had never ceased to
provide water.
A proposal to merge the two roads into one single corridor between the municipalities of Girona and Figueres was also
defended in the AP-7 extension and A-2 widening project. It consisted of removing the toll and using the same criteria the
competent administration applied to the Girona conurbation. The routes of these two roads run practically parallel between the
two cities, the Demarcation’s chief economic and intermodal poles, and are virtually touching. Therefore, merging would provide
some highly substantial advantages: economic stimulation in the Girona Region, saving resources and land use, favouring a
more socially just transport system, cleaning up the various kinds of mobility, correcting the high territorial and scenic
fragmentation... This alternative has not, as yet, been considered.
The bulk of the proposals addresses permeability measures, incorporating new overpasses and underpasses or extending
those currently existing (tunnels, cut and cover tunnels, ecoducts, overpasses, viaducts, underpasses and pipes), in an effort to
guarantee socio-ecological permeability over the entire route of each infrastructure. These proposals have focused particularly
on those stretches along which the barrier effect has or could have the greatest impact, given that it intercepts an important
corridor. Conversely, other measures have also been considered, such as noise prevention and erosion protection measures,
and measures to bolster environmental recovery and landscape integration via the artificial replanting of native species.
With respect to TGV installation, CILMA had the chance to directly negotiate these improvements with the Railway Infrastructure
Manager (ADIF), the bulk of which were accepted. This represents a total of sixty-odd structures, mainly ecoducts and viaducts,
which entail an accumulative supplementary budget of approximately 500 million euros.
The proposal concerning the AP-7 and A-2 was sent to the Spanish Government’s Ministry of Public Works. However, and as
with the subsequent proposals concerning minimum corrective measures, a concrete response has not yet been issued. In fact,
it was deemed wise for the Generalitat of Catalonia’s Department of Environment and Housing to take over efforts to include
these permeability structures, taking advantage of the public information processed within the environmental assessment
process. This partnership with the autonomous administration has made the progressive incorporation of several indispensable
structures a possibility. Accordingly, it is worth mentioning the implementation of a 70 m long ecoduct within the main GavarresGuilleries corridor, at the interchange between the A-2 and AP-7 (Girona South).
The results and conclusions of these studies and proposals have also been sent to the various competent autonomous, state
and European administrations, along with the distinct political groups, institutions and entities invested in the territory.
Massís de l'Albera
Connectivity flow with the measures planned or executed
by the Ministry of Public Works (Spanish Government’s)
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FIGUERES
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Culvert
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Culvert
"Rec Can Gibert"
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Cutting
## "Riera d'en Vinyers"
"Mas Gelats"
Ecoduct L=70 m
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"Southern zone green belt (Girona)"
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## Cutting
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L=2 m
###"Can Daniel" ##### Underpass
"Camps de Can Figueres"
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Underpass
L= 5 m
"Can Mateu"#
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Underpass L=12 m
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"Riera de la Torre"
Underpass L=16 m
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"Riera de la Torre"
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Highway 2
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Toll Highway 7
Culvert
Cutting
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"Riera de la Torre"
Cutting
"Mas Vinyoles"
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High-speed train
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"Mas Vinyoles"
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#### Connectivity flows
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Southern zone of green belt
in Girona's urban area
Underpass L=10 m
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Viaduct L= 70 m
"Riera Can Gibert"
Underpass L=8
"Camps de Can Massot"
###"Vinyers"
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Culvert
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Aiguamolls Alt Empordà
Natural Park
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Viaduct L= 50 m
"Torrent de Can Garrofa"
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Cap de Creus
Natural Park
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Alta Garrotxa
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Demarcation
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Girona
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"Riera del Regàs"
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250
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Underpass L=16 m.
"Riera de la Torre"
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Massís de les Gavarres
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Cut and cover tunnel
L=50 m "Mas Vinyoles"
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Underpass L=10 m
"Riera del Regàs"
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Me
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Massís de Cadiretes
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Legend
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Highway 2
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Large connectivity flows
(proposed by CILMA)
Riparian guaranteed
Toll Highway 7
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High-speed train
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Natural areas
Massís Montnegre-el Corredor
Corridors
Protected areas
Agrarian
Buffer areas
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4
8 Km
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Linear transportation
infrastructure
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500
Toll Highway 7
High-speed train
Connectivity flows
Southern zone of green belt
in Girona's urban area
À
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Measures planned and approved
by the Spanish Government's
Ministry of Public Works
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Measures proposed by CILMA
(waiting to be approved)
1000 m.
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rr a
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Underpass L= 10 m
"Riera del Regàs"
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Highway 2
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Se
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Underpass L= 16 m
"Riera de la Torre"
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À
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L=100 "Mas Vinyoles"
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3 Underpass L(total)= 36 m
"Riera de la Torre"
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ÀCut and cover tunnel
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"Can Mateu"
Massís de Guilleries
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Viaduct 70 m.
"Rec Can Gibert"
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GIRONA
Montseny Natural Park
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15 m.
## Underpass
###"Vinyers"
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Ecoduct
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L=20 m "Mas Gelats"
### ¡
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##À
Underpass L=15 m.
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####
"Riera d'en Vinyers"
À
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À#######
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À
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#############
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###cover tunnel
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Wildlife crossing L= 70 m
Cut and
Southern zone green belt (Girona)
#"Can
### m
L=150 m
###Daniel"
##########Underpass
Can Figueres"
####de L=2
À "Camps
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Underpass L=16 m.
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Underpass L=8
"Camps de Can Massot"
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Viaduct L= 70 m
"Riera Can Gibert"
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Montgrí-Illes Medes
Natural Park
Connectivity flow with the permeability measures proposed
by CILMA and the local organizations
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Viaduct L= 50 m
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"Torrent de Can Garrofa"
À
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Muntanyes de Rocacorba
À Permeability measures
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1000 m.
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The Girona Demarcation features a remarkably diverse natural heritage. The fragility of this landscape
mosaic necessitates special attention when guaranteeing functional connectivity between its protected areas.
Maintaining environmental continuity between the coastal mountain systems and inland areas is particularly
important. Currently, this territorial connectivity is only partially covered by the presence of viaducts along
fluvial courses. This proves seriously deficient in enabling connectivity between forest systems. An efficient
combination of corrective measures between the AP-7, A-2 and TGV has not been implemented at any point
along the entire infrastructure corridor, some 110 km in length.
Riparian not guaranteed
Urban
Multifunctional
Permeability measures
(proposed by CILMA) NOT implemented
Despite all the solvent instruments and proposals made available by CILMA and the local organisations, only
the TGV, via the incorporation of a considerable number of cut and cover tunnels, ecoducts and viaducts,
exhibits reasonable permeability.
Toll Highway 7 OR Highway 2
Anthropic areas
Urban areas
Conclusions
Toll Highway 7 AND Highway 2
Equal efforts are required to attain AP-7 and A-2 permeability, taking advantage of the respective extension
and widening projects. Otherwise, the large investment incurred with the TGV will be rendered useless. We
are still awaiting a positive response from the corresponding ministers of the Spanish Government.