From next Monday, December 18, the speed limit on Palma’s vía de cintura ring road will be increased from 80 km/h to 100 km/h.
The only two points where the 80 km/h limit will remain in force for safety reasons will be the Génova tunnel and the level crossing at the Can Blau roundabout.
The speed modification was one of the star policies of the Partido Popular’s election manifesto to put an end to traffic jams, and it is backed by technical environmental, traffic and accident rate reports.
When it was announced last November that the Council of Mallorca had informed the Directorate General of Traffic (DGT) of the decision to raise the maximum speed limit, the council justified the measure on the grounds that “it was more efficient” in terms of fuel consumption, especially for heavy vehicles.
The technical reports have shown that increasing the speed to 100 km/h not only saved fuel, but also CO2 emissions, and that “at both 120 and 80 km/h, it is the motorway with the lowest accident rate of all those in Mallorca”, so that “at 100 km/h it meets all safety standards”.
In this sense, its danger index (PI) over the last ten years is the lowest of all the motorways on the island. The report’s technicians stated that “since 2016 there has been a downward trend, both in terms of the PI and the total number of accidents, and all the values are always below 30” (the limit below which a very low PI is considered). In terms of fatalities, there has been an upturn since 2021, with only three fatal accidents in 11 years, rising to five in three years.
On the other hand, the reports include aspects such as noise, which with the renewal of the road surface, with a higher quality one, will be reduced by between two and three decibels.
Also extra acoustic screens will be installed to further alleviate the nuisance for residents near the road in some sections.