CYCLING AND PEDESTRIAN PATH ON BI-2636 ROAD IN EXTEBARRIA

Area of activity
WATER AND ENVIRONMENT

Service
Environment and biodiversity

Client
Environmental Initiatives (IA)

Scope

• Diagnosis of the current situation
• Study of alternatives
• Evaluation of alternatives and conditioning factors

Duration
2021

After receiving the corresponding allegations from the Town Council of Etexebarria in relation to the initial approval of the Sectorial Territorial Plan of Bizkaia Cycle Paths, it was decided to carry out a study of specific alternatives for the adaptation of the existing pedestrian path on the BI-2636 road. Specifically, the section between the municipalities of Etxebarria and Markina-Xemin, proposing it as a mixed solution (cycling and pedestrian) within the line 6 Artibai of the future Territorial Plan Sector of Bizkaia Cycle Paths (PTSVCB).

Currently, the cycle path for a sustainable regional communication, which is considered already implemented, is a pedestrian path for leisure use with the use explicitly prohibited for bicycles and any motor vehicle (including electric).

It is a pedestrian path with a differentiated route, far from the BI-2636 road and not optimized neither in its layout, nor in its design for an alternative use of cycling mobility to traditional mobility. It is far from meeting the current mobility objectives and requirements described in the PTSVCB itself.

For all the above described, the purpose of this technical assistance is the drafting of the corresponding Study of Alternatives of the so-called “Bidegorri Urko”, either transforming the current road into a cycling and pedestrian path that serves as an alternative, intermodal and sustainable communication route between the municipalities of Etxebarria and Markina-Xemein, or making a route parallel to the BI-2636 road.

The possibility of developing an intermediate route will also be analyzed. In one part it will run parallel to the BI-2636 road and in another area, it will link with the current pedestrian path, adapting it to a cyclable use. At present, the dimensions of the present pedestrian path are 2.5 m wide, making it impossible to consider it as a cycle path.

In this sense, it is proposed to carry out these works in order to propose a technically viable solution for the adaptation of the present pedestrian path into a cycle and pedestrian path, combining both uses and connecting in a sustainable way the municipalities of Etxebarria and Markina – Xemein, or the generation of a new platform parallel to the BI-2636 road.