Madrileños crossing the Cibeles-Puerta de Alcalá axis these days have already encountered the first sign that the Alcalá works have begun. The street has lost two lanes and gained construction fences because work has begun on the new boulevard between the Cibeles fountain and Plaza de la Independencia, a renovation that will continue until 2027 and will affect mobility in one of the busiest and most symbolic sections of the city center for months to come.
Since last Monday, the City Council has closed one lane in each direction on Calle Alcalá between Cibeles and Puerta de Alcalá to traffic, so that only two lanes plus a bus lane remain operational in each direction on this section. The reduction is now permanent: this is not a temporary closure for construction, but rather the configuration that the road will have when the work is completed, with less space for cars and more for pedestrians, the median strip, and the bike lane. The deputy mayor, Inma Sanz, has acknowledged that there will be traffic disruptions from day one, although the City Council assures that the impact “will not be excessive” and that it will try to concentrate the most difficult work in the summer.
What the new boulevard between Cibeles and Puerta de Alcalá will look like
Editorial credit: Madrid City Council
The project, with an investment of €6.1 million and the approval of UNESCO and the Local Historical Heritage Commission, seeks to restore the monumental character of this section of the Paisaje de la Luz (Landscape of Light) and give pedestrians back their prominence. The new section of the street will include: two lanes for general traffic and one bus lane in each direction, as well as a central promenade approximately 3.8 meters wide that will serve as a pedestrian boulevard and viewpoint towards the Puerta de Alcalá, and a segregated bike lane on the south side, protected from traffic.
The sidewalks will also be widened, the asphalt will be renewed, bus stops will be rearranged, and the double row of trees that historically lined the street before pedestrian space was sacrificed in the 1960s to widen the roadway will be restored. The idea is that citizens will be able to walk through the Puerta de Alcalá and its surroundings as if it were a square, rather than just driving around it.