Reus City Council rejected two motions on Friday 18 September calling for the removal of the retractable bollard on Carrer del Doctor Robert, leaving the traffic-control measure in place. The votes also mean the council did not approve a proposed relaxation of 50% of the city’s Zona de Baixes Emissions, its low-emission zone, or the requested package of support for local shops.

For residents, visitors and businesses around El Pallol and Plaça de Catalunya, the immediate position is unchanged: access restrictions on Doctor Robert remain while the council’s technical services assess the effects of the measure.

Votes leave mobility policy unchanged

The Partido Popular, or PP, councillor Sílvia Virgili presented a motion seeking to remove the bollard, relax half of the low-emission zone restrictions and introduce commercial aid. She said the bollard had led to increasing traffic congestion and incidents around El Pallol and Plaça de Catalunya.

Julio Pardo, an unaffiliated councillor, submitted a separate motion on the same central issue. Neither proposal secured enough support to pass.

  • The PP motion was backed by Junts per Reus and the two unaffiliated councillors.
  • The governing parties, CUP and VOX voted against the PP motion.
  • Pardo’s motion was supported by VOX and unaffiliated councillor José Ruiz; Junts and PP abstained, while the governing parties and CUP voted against it.

Council cites pedestrian safety on narrow pavements

Dolors Vázquez, the councillor responsible for mobility, defended the scheme as part of plans set during the previous council term. She said its purpose was to improve pedestrian safety on a street where the pavements are too narrow for two pushchairs to pass each other.

“It is a project focused on the people who live across the whole surrounding area,” Vázquez said.

Vázquez said council technical services were evaluating the consequences of the measure. CUP councillor Aleida López supported making the town centre calmer for traffic but called for meaningful public participation, and said the state of local independent retail was not caused by the Doctor Robert bollard.

During questions from councillors, Junts per Reus councillor Mariluz Caballero said business organisations had collected more than 2,000 signatures against the bollard. Vázquez replied that residents of Carrer del Doctor Robert had also defended it.

Primary sources: Ajuntament de Reus. Reported by reusdigital.cat.