Ten consulting firms are competing for the contracts to do the initial work on the Plaza del Ayuntamiento (City Hall Square) pedestrianisation project. Seven businesses want to do the traffic and mobility study, and three more want to change the Public Service Project (PSP) for the city bus service, which includes changing the routes and stops. The bids range from €97,000 to €54,375, with a deadline of four months for completion. This Wednesday, the City Council’s Contracting Committee unsealed the envelopes with the proposals inside. There will be another meeting to look over the financial proposals. After that, city workers will look over the bids to decide how to classify and award them.
The businesses who want to obtain the contract to write the traffic and mobility research are Enigest SL, Movea Consulting Mobility SL, A-Ingeniería Research and Consulting SL, WSP Spain-Apia SA, Ingartek Consulting SL, Ingecid SL, and Colin Buchanan Consultores SA.
The following companies have bid on the contract to help with the technical work needed to write the modified project for the city’s urban passenger transport service and other related tasks: Idom Consulting Engineering Architecture SAU, Sanvi Consulting Mobility SL, and Ingartek Consulting SL.
Carlos de Juan, the Councillor for Urban Mobility, said that “Alicante and its City Council are making progress in the pedestrian-friendly urban mobility model in the city centre.” This is because more than 25,000 square meters of the city centre have been turned into pedestrian-only areas along the axis between the Explanada and the Central Market, through Avenida de la Constitución and Bailén and Bilbao streets, and the new pedestrian plaza at the intersection of La Rambla and the Explanada. This process of making additional space for pedestrians is still going on in the Plaza del Ayuntamiento, which is already restricted to cars save for public transport. The project will be finished this year.
Carlos de Juan said that the current contract, which we are working on together with the Department of Urban Planning, “aims to determine the technical, functional, and operational feasibility of eliminating vehicular traffic in front of the Town Hall Square, quantifying the repercussions on the main road, urban public transport and pedestrian and cyclist mobility, and including the necessary corrective measures to guarantee the overall functionality of the network.” He also said that “the conclusions of the study will be used for draughting the project for pedestrianisation and improvement of mobility in the Town Hall Square.”
In-depth research and microsimulation
The traffic and mobility research is being put out to bid, with a bid price of €54,375.26 and a completion time of four months. It will look into how the closure of the part of Altamira Street in front of the Town Hall Square may affect traffic and generate problems. The study will look at the current and future state of mobility in terms of private and public transportation, pedestrian and bicycle traffic, activity centres, loading and unloading, pedestrian pathways, waste collection, public parking, and other things. It will also look at how the remainder of the city’s primary road network will be affected, setting the stage for analysing the existing and future traffic patterns of the other routes that will be affected and suggesting suitable alternatives.
The traffic study of the main road in the city that will be affected by the Plaza del Ayuntamiento’s closing to traffic will provide the starting data, simulated scenarios, and comparison of results, prognosis, and modelling of traffic in the entire main road affected. This road is defined in the Sustainable Urban Mobility Plan (PMUS) as a basic urban transport network and includes, at least, the streets Jorge Juan, Altamira, Rambla de Méndez Núñez, Alfonso el Sabio, Jaime II, Paseo de Mártires, Avenida de Loring, Plaza Canalejas, Ramón y Cajal, Gadea, and access via Pintor Aparicio.
Additionally, a microsimulation will be conducted on the city’s primary intersections impacted by the rise in traffic on other routes, both present and anticipated, using metrics of service level, journey durations, congestion, and projected emissions. There will also be two studies and suggestions for additional actions based on the above to improve the levels of service of the road network and intersections, including public transport (stops, signs, etc.) and the city’s road signs. These will all include simulations of the proposals and cost estimates.
Changes to the Urban Bus Public Service Project
The second tender is for “Technical assistance services for draughting the revised project for the provision of the public service and feasibility plan for the urban passenger transport service of the city of Alicante and other complementary works.” The budget for the tender is €97,003.38. This bid will let the Public Service Project (PSP) for the urban bus service be changed. This will include changing the routes and operating costs in the current PSP to reflect the changes that need to be made to the lines and stops because of the pedestrianisation of the Plaza del Ayuntamiento (City Hall Square), among other things.
Author: Derek Appleton
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