Madrid has just given the green light to the new 41-kilometer highway that will link Valdemorillo and Griñón. This new road, called Autopista del Suroeste, responds to a historical demand for mobility for the more than 100,000 residents of the area and aims to decisively decongest the current collapsed axes of the M-600 and the M-404, which exceed 16,000 and 10,000 vehicles per day respectively.
The future infrastructure will start from the connection of the M-600 with the M-503, south of Valdemorillo, and will run through the southwest of Madrid to the junction of the M-404 and the M-407, near the town of Griñón. Its route will run directly through municipalities such as Villanueva de la Cañada, Brunete, Sevilla la Nueva, Navalcarnero, El Álamo, Batres and Serranillos del Valle, providing a backbone for an area that has experienced significant population growth and increasing traffic pressure in the last decade.
New highway in Madrid: investment and start of works
The project, announced by President Isabel Díaz Ayuso and endorsed by Regional Minister Jorge Rodrigo, mobilizes an initial investment of 35 million euros in its first phase (planning and environmental studies), and is part of a 559 million euro package for the modernization of the regional road network. In addition to the main roadway for motorized traffic, the design contemplates the addition of a parallel bicycle lane, a further commitment to sustainable mobility and green corridors.
In practice, the Autopista del Suroeste aims to considerably reduce the time and distance between residential areas and Madrid capital, redistributing traffic and reducing the usual traffic jams that affect the M-50 and the accesses to the A-5 and A-42. It will not only have an impact on thousands of private drivers, but will also facilitate the daily logistics of companies and access to basic services in the new urban developments in the surrounding area.
The project is currently undergoing technical feasibility studies, environmental impact studies and definition of the preliminary project. Construction is scheduled to start in 2026, once the administrative procedures have been completed and the contracts have been put out to tender. The regional government argues that the highway will be “a strategic solution” to prepare the territory for the expected population growth and a boost for the local and commercial economy of the municipalities that will benefit from it.