Salou City Council submits objections to the tramway project
Salou City Council has requested the Generalitat to stop the Camp de Tarragona tramway project. Specifically, the council has submitted a statement of objections to the basic project that refers to the section between Salou and the operational center of Vila-seca because it considers it to be invalid.
According to the city council, before this document the Government should have drawn up another one based on the railway law. The mayor of the city, Pere Granados, has stated that he does not know what alteration there would be in terms of restarting the procedures, but he has defended that the project needs to conform to the law. In addition, the city council demands that the Government comply with its commitment to develop the old railway route for a value of 9.5 MEUR.
The catenary in the urban section, the problem
The plenary session of the Salou City Council ratified this Wednesday the mayor’s decree by which the objections to the basic project of the section between Salou and the Vila-seca operations center were presented. In the letter addressed to the General Directorate of Mobility Infrastructures, the municipality points out that the tram ‘should have been agreed upon with the council given the serious effects on the municipal area’. Among these, Granados has highlighted that the tram will generate an urban impact due to the installation of catenaries in the urban fabric.
Specifically, the council requests that there be no catenaries in the urban section of the route, which would go from the border with Cambrils to the highway bridge that connects Salou and Reus. Despite this, Granados has not specified how many meters of catenary the project envisages, but he has acknowledged that they are ‘advancing strongly in the discussions’ with the Generalitat.
Modifications to the layout and location of the operational center
Another aspect that the council does not like is that part of the route was modified in the area bordering Vila-seca and that the location of the operational center was changed, a fact that would prevent the connection between Salou and PortAventura station with the Mediterranean corridor as planned.
‘It is clear that a modification such as the one proposed, which entails a redefinition of the approved route and a conversion to a dual carriageway and a relocation of the workshop (operational center) constitutes a relevant modification that must undergo an environmental impact assessment’, defends the city council in the allegations.