South Tunnel on M-30 South Bypass Opens in MadridAlberto Ruiz Gallardon, the Mayor of Madrid, inaugurated on 8th May, 2007 the south tunnel of the south bypass on the inner ring road, a 4.2 km tunnel that starts at Paseo de Santa Maria de la Cabeza and ends near the Avenida del Mediterraneo and the connection to the A-3. Its opening means that all the major infrastructure within the upgrade of the M-30 are now fully operating. The mayor officially declared the conclusion of the M-30 upgrade programme.The new infrastructure is connected to a 1.6 km underground access segment on one side and to another section from Marques de Vadillo on the other. Altogether, this is 5.9 kilometres of new tunnel. The south bypass is a double tunnel, in both direction, between Vicente Calderon Stadium and Conde Casal, that enables drivers to avoid the south interchange, which records a traffic of more than 200,000 daily vehicles and was one of the most congested city areas with long traffic jams when the M-30 was connected there with the A-4 (motorway to Andalusia) and the M-40, Madrid's second ring road. About 80,000 daily vehicles will use the bypass.The vehicles that enter Madrid from the A-5 will be able to connect with the A-3 to Valencia through the Avenida de Portugal, an underground section of the M-30 that runs parallel to the Manzanares river, and the south tunnel of south bypass. This totals 12 kilometres below ground, which makes it the longest urban road tunnel in the world.The south tunnel runs parallel to a twin tunnel that was inaugurated on 23rd March, making the route 1.5 kilometres shorter for M-30 motorists driving to the A-5 (Extremadura) and the A-6 (La Coruña). The north tunnel of the south bypass is the longest road tunnel in Europe, at 7.5 kilometres, if accessed from the A-3 and taking the exit at the Vicente Calderon Stadium. Click here. The contract to construct this tunnel, that runs under Arganzuela and Enrique Tierno Galvan parks, was awarded to Dragados and FCC for more than EUR410 million, although the project as a whole had a final budget of EUR622.7 million. The second of the then world's biggest TBMs, dubbed 'Tizona', 148 metres long and 4,200 tonnes of weight, excavated the tunnel. The infrastructure is equipped with 92 cameras, 21 variable message panels and 19 emergency exits. Click here, here, here, here, here, here for more & es/104. 22/07.