For 60% of the first phase of the Corridor, EU funds have been requested
Logroño expects to have completed by 2029 the interventions in the Barranco de Oyón, Parque del Horcajo, and the Southern Ecological Corridor -formerly known as the southern interceptor- with a total budget of 12.18 million.
With this goal, the City Council, in a Local Government meeting, has approved a Three-Year Plan for Hydraulic and Environmental Works. Additionally, just yesterday, the first phase of the Southern Corridor project was submitted to the call for FEDER funds to promote the renaturalization of cities.
The Councillors for Urbanism, Íñigo López-Araquistain, and Environment, Jesús López, reported this Friday on these three actions, which, overall, «will reduce the effects of downpours, allow for better water management, and create connected natural corridors.»
The three-year plan, part of the Logroño Circular Strategy, has several objectives. Firstly, to develop a set of sustainable drainage systems that reduce the effects of downpours and floods and promote better use of water surpluses.
The actions will also create new parks in peri-urban areas interconnected with paths or corridors, and improve the city’s capacity to absorb and neutralize pollutants and greenhouse gases.
The Councillor for Urbanism and Circular City, Íñigo López-Araquistáin, emphasized that «this plan is a new step in the coherent strategy we are developing to move towards the future Logroño with a clear roadmap, where we not only consider having more green spaces but also promoting better use of resources, such as water.»
«And we do it -he added- by solving current problems with techniques and works that allow us to improve the sustainability and resilience of Logroño in line with the recently revised Urban Agenda and with that longer-term horizon that helps us to think about how our city can be in 2050 and work towards it.»
THE WORKS.
As detailed by Jesús López, these are three «transformative and strategic» projects. The first to be executed on the schedule will be the Barranco de Oyón, a much-needed work, which will be done in two phases, with the first phase aimed at solving the problem of runoff and increased water during storms or heavy rains, starting soon.
The intervention involves working on a 650-meter linear strip, from a water accumulation pond from the ravine that could not be filtered by the terrain. Once stored, it will flow through an underground passage with reinforced concrete frames under the N-111a to flow into a newly constructed channel that will carry the water to the Ebro River.
It is planned to be carried out in two phases, starting with the underground passage, and then proceeding to the naturalization of the surroundings. The project has a total budget of 1.43 million, with 743,000 euros for the first phase and 695,000 euros for the second. The forecast is to have everything completed by the first half of 2026.
The intervention in Parque del Horcajo is, in principle, «the simplest,» but it will take a little longer due to administrative procedures, including land expropriations. The last Local Government meeting approved technical assistance to develop the project.
The works will affect a 1,430-meter linear strip and will involve the conditioning of ditches and slopes according to drainage needs, accumulation and slowing ponds, to redirect runoff water to seasonal or perpetual ponds with percolation capacity.
The solution, as Jesús López recalled, «responds to a commitment made to the residents of the Yagüe neighborhood.» With an initial budget of 1.85 million, the idea is to start the work in early 2026 and finish it in the second half of the same year.
All cases include landscape regeneration of the areas being worked on and the creation of recreational areas with bioclimatic islands, spaces with rustic urban furniture, lush trees, and groves with CO2 sink capacity, reducing the heat island effect and providing thermal insulation for the city.
THE SOUTHERN CORRIDOR, SUBMITTED TO FEDER FUNDS.
The third project is «the most important,» formerly known as the southern interceptor, now renamed as ‘Southern Green and Blue Corridor of Logroño. Hydrological and environmental integration and promotion of biodiversity in the southwest area of the city of Logroño’ due to its outdoor solutions rather than underground ones.
Intervention that was submitted yesterday to the call for FEDER aid to promote the renaturalization of cities carried out by the Biodiversity Foundation. The funding proposal corresponds to the 1st phase of the southern ecological corridor of the Plan, with 60 percent of the cost of that first phase – 3.5 million – covered by municipal funds.
López emphasized that «this is a strategic intervention to transform Logroño into a more resilient and sustainable city, improving stormwater management, ecologically regenerating the area, mitigating the effects of climate change, and reinforcing the ecological connectivity of the city.»
Thus, «in addition to solving recurrent flooding episodes caused by the increasing impermeability of the soil in the area and the alteration of natural watercourses, it will allow us to address the lack of natural spaces that promote the health and well-being of citizens in an area that has experienced rapid urban growth in recent years.»
The Councillor pointed out regarding the presented project that in the area where the intervention will take place, parcels located in the southern strip of the city will be selected to mitigate excess stormwater by implementing laminating ponds to retain and regulate water flow, with sustainable drainage.
«These urban wetlands – as López pointed out – will be accompanied by planting native vegetation and suitable equipment for the settlement of wildlife, allowing them to become strategic ecological nodes, including more trees to increase shaded areas.
Similarly, thirdly, «the creation of a corridor that connects all proposed ponds through a green and cycle path, promoting biodiversity and sustainable mobility,» initially spanning 2 kilometers. The first phase of the project will run from the Camino de Santiago to the N-111, including Avenida de Madrid and «the possible future development of Ramblasque.»
The file for this first phase of the Corridor was opened this month, initiating the entire administrative process, including expropriations, estimating that this section of the work could be completed by the first quarter of 2028.
Jesús López also noted that «in parallel, the administrative process will begin for the second phase,» with an initial budget of 5.4 million euros. A process, as the councilor pointed out, that is expected to start in 2026 «and could be completed by 2029.»
