FREIGHT: PRIORITY NETWORK FOR HEAVY GOODS VEHICLES TRAFFIC IN MALAGA

Summary

The measure aims to design and implement a heavy goods vehicles (HGV) priority network, in order to limit and regulate their presence within the city consolidated area. The network will allow HGV to access the Malaga Port just from a specific itinerary, going from the highway ring entrance in the west-coast along the city waterfront, until the Port. Given the importance of that area for HGV flow, a strong reduction of their presence in the rest of Malaga road network is expected.

Implementing sustainable mobility

Nowadays, in the city of Malaga heavy vehicles transporting goods are driving through the streets at any time of the day, which supposes a very negative situation for the mobility of the city, generating noise and greenhouse gas emissions, as well as a conflict between transport and other urban activities.

The lack of a control and management solutions for HGV in the future could lead to even more significant congestions in the main city corridors, as well as to a general deterioration both of the residents’ quality of life and of the streets where HGV use to go through.

The main measure objectives are:

• To avoid the situation of conflict with other urban activities, for which heavy goods vehicles represent a visual intrusion, noise and occupancy on the roads and the rest of the urban space.
• To establish valid routes and timetables, as well as to develop technological measures for monitoring heavy goods vehicles traffic within the city.

This measure will develop specific rules for heavy goods vehicles and a technological tool for monitoring and controlling their transit through various access points to the city. The west coast area is one of the best candidates where to establish a new corridor for the circulation of HGV, due to its intense presence of commercial activities, and its connection to the Port.

The network will integrate technologies (vehicle detection and classification systems, cameras for plates’ identification, software to control HGV access statistics) and infrastructures (signalling, itinerary) in order to monitor HGV connection to Malaga Port, going through a dedicated corridor.

Progress

After carrying out a study to analyze the current situation of heavy transport in the city, it was decided to ban the access to it and its outlying residential areas to those trucks with a maximum authorised weight higher than 16 t or a length higher than 12 m and whose destination is not the Port, from 7.00 a.m. to 11.00 p.m.

Heavy goods vehicles going to the Port must use the corridor established by this measure, but no restrictions on their characteristics or time frameworks for accessing will be implemented. This itinerary will be located along the west coast of Malaga, because of its intense presence of commercial activities and its connection to the Port from the highway.

For monitoring and control of heavy goods vehicles, different solutions have already been studied. They will finally consist of developing specific rules for them and installing the necessary elements to inform the affected drivers about the restriction and / or to control their entry into the city through its main access points. This control is planned to be carried out by the estimation of vehicle measurements and maximum authorised weight through laser technology and vehicles identification through an automatic plate recognition system.

The implementation of this measure is planned to start by the end of 2014.

Outcomes

The general outcomes expected through the measure implementation are represented by a general improvement of the environmental conditions of the city areas not included within the HGV priority network, in the following aspects:

• Annual reduction of the CO2 emissions linked to HGV traffic.
• Reduction of the annual total HGV associated trips and mileage per year in the city area.
• To achieve a relevant saving in energy consumed by the HGV within the urban transport system.
• To avoid the situation of conflict with other urban activities, for which heavy goods vehicles represent a visual intrusion, noise and occupancy on the roads and the rest of the urban space.
• To establish valid routes and timetables for the transit of heavy goods vehicles.
• To design and implement the HGV traffic management through vertical signs and road marks.
• To develop technological measures for monitoring HGV transport.

More concretely, it is expected a reduction of the average traffic of HGV in the city during the restriction hours by 50% from 2008 to 2016, as well as a reduction of traffic accidents implying HGV by 60%.