North-South Axis functional scheme

The Madrid City Council has commissioned this study with the aim of introducing changes in the spatial and functional configuration of the major structuring axis of the city. This road axis goes from North to South of the Central Area of ​​Madrid, includes the Prado, Recoletos and Castellana boulevards. The proposed functional scheme seeks to analyze and define an alternative organization of mobility on that structuring axis, in order (1) to reduce the volume and speed of private motorized traffic, (2) to favor the circulation of pedestrians and cyclists and (3) to promote the use of public transport.

cambiaMO has participated in this analytical and design effort with the aim of transforming this axis with the dominant function of traffic passing between the north and south of the city (i.e. “North-South Axis”) into some richer and more complex urban public space.

The work aims to reincorporate the lost interaction functions of public space and the active modes of transport (i.e. cycling and walking) in a coherent scheme. In addition, this scheme proposes to create the infrastructural conditions for operating high-capacity public transport. In this way, the proposal is to considerably increase the public transport competitiveness toward the automobile. The proposed strategy consists of allocating reserved space for segregated platforms in order to convert the current bus services into BRT (Bus Rapid Transit).