The Gran Vía de Hortaleza tunnel in Madrid is located on one of the main connection arteries in the north-east of the city and plays a key role in urban mobility, handling a high volume of daily traffic. It is 635 metres long and has four lanes, two in each direction, separated by a central crash barrier.

PROJECT OBJETIVES: SAFETY, VISIBILITY AND EFFICIENCY

With the aim of enhancing safety and visibility, improving energy efficiency and optimising lighting performance, the Madrid City Council promoted the renovation of this urban infrastructure to LED technology last year. The intervention was designed to ensure more uniform and reliable lighting in a high-traffic environment, increasing driver visual comfort and reducing energy consumption during tunnel operation. At the same time, the upgrade was used to modernise the supporting technological systems, essential to guarantee the infrastructure’s operability.

A ROBUST, EFFICIENT AND MAINTAINABLE SOLUTION

The product selected for the project was the Carandini T-XTREME projector, winner of the Red Dot Award for Best Urban Design 2023. This luminaire was specifically developed for tunnel applications and designed to withstand vibrations caused by continuous traffic flow, ensuring reliable long-term performance. Its modular design and availability of different optical configurations allow the photometry to be adapted to the requirements of the layout, ensuring uniform lighting throughout the road. In addition, it features a mounting system that simplifies installation and aiming, and facilitates maintenance thanks to tool-free front access to the driver and the use of standardised components.

A DEMANDING GEOMETRY REQUIRING PRECISE LIGHT DISTRIBUTION

The main challenge of the project was to ensure high uniformity and optimal visibility across the full width of the tunnel, constrained by its four-lane configuration and central crash barrier. This road layout requires a highly precise light distribution capable of covering the entire carriageway evenly and maintaining stable lighting levels along the tunnel. For this reason, the selection of photometries and optics by Carandini’s lighting engineering team was key to achieving the objectives set by the City Council.

POWER REDUCTION: GREATER SAVINGS AND SUSTAINABILITY

The intervention, carried out by the UTE Mantenimiento Túneles Urbanos de Madrid, has improved visibility conditions inside the tunnel while reducing installed power. Thanks to LED technology, better lighting performance has been achieved with lower energy consumption, increasing installation efficiency and enhancing the sustainability of the infrastructure.

The new lighting, with a colour temperature of 4000 K, provides clearer and more comfortable visual perception for drivers, contributing to improved safety, especially in high-traffic scenarios.

Beyond energy savings, the reduction in installed power also lowers operational costs, delivering significant economic benefits for the city.

FUTURE-READY INSTALLATION

The installation has been prepared for future integration of control systems via DALI protocol, enabling more flexible and efficient lighting management.