Zone 80's days are numbered

Barcelona (ACN).- Back in January 2008, the government introduced a speed limit of 80 km/h on the main roads around Barcelona. The idea was to create a comfier, safer driving environment and reduce accidents. Other European cities were undertaking similar measures at the time to reduce speed limit pollution. At the moment it exits in London, Vienna, Munich, Frankfurt, Stuttgart, Rotterdam and Paris.

But this week, Lluís Recoder, the Minister of Planning and Sustainability of the new Artur Mas government said that 'a variable speed limit would be much more effective and environmentaly friendly than a strict one of 80 km/h'. He asked the SCT (Catalonian Office of Traffic, known as Trànsit) to study the best solution taking factors like pollution, congestion and safety into consideration. However, the Minister did not want to discuss the future maximum speed limit of zones accessing Barcelona and he told journalists that this decision would be decided by the SCT. The definite announcement will be made by the Department of Home Affairs at a press conference this Monday. Zone 80’s days are numbered. The measure was promised by the centre-right political party, Convergència i Unió in their election campaign. They wanted to scrap the Zone 80, a quite unpopular measure of the former government. Ministers have said they will make a decision on the fate of the current Zone 80 before the end of January. Just today the Governing Committee said they would evaluate the measure. The current proposal could relax the current speed limit to 100 mph in some zones and change the speed limits to more variable ones. The decision will be made depending on congestion, times, the quality of the air. In these cases drivers could circulate faster.