Watch out for GPS. Including the A-8, six roads have changed their name in Bizkaia

Those who usually travel through the Metropolitan District of Bilbao will continue to use the same routes as usual, but from now on they will do so under the new official names . Some of the roads most used in Bizkaia have changed their name, within a rearrangement of the road nomenclature promoted by the Basque Government, to facilitate understanding of the road network and homogenize it with other urban environments.

The most symbolic change affects the A-8 as it passes through the metropolitan area. The section between Miribilla and Santurtzi leaves behind the official name and the popular name (South Variant) and becomes the BI-10 . This variant more clearly identifies its role within the road system, as reported by the Provincial Council.

One of the key axes of access to Bilbao has also been changed to the Txorierri corridor, so far identified as the N-637, to thenomenclature that extends to the Rontegi bridge.

To the east of the capital, the ascent to Santo Domingo is not BI-631 and is called BI-20, while the northern access from Asua from Enekuri is called BI-11 .

The update also covers shorter but more used routes, such as access to the University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU), which will be called BI-747, or the section between Kareaga and Galindo, now identified as BI-744.

These amendments respond to Law 5/2018 , which establishes new criteria for designating the roads of the Basque Country. The system gives priority to more intuitive names, especially in access and bypass areas, following a model similar to that of other major cities, in which rings and rounds are identified with easily recognizable numbers. In Bizkaia, all roads begin with the prefix BI, followed by figures that allow to differentiate the basic route, complementary, regional or local.

The change of name takes place not only in Bizkaia, but also in Gipuzkoa and Álava , where the reorganisation of the road nomenclature is being applied, since the names of access, variant and foral roads have been revised in order to unify criteria and facilitate the orientation of drivers, territories in which the adjustments have had less impact, since they have not affected emblematic routes such as the metropolitan area of Bilbao.

The adaptation is not limited to paper. The Provincial Council of Bizkaia has launched a project to gradually update the signage, which includes, among other things, the complete modification of the signage and the partial modification of the elements in order to minimise the impact on circulation. The work will be carried out at night and will be extended over the next few years.

In the meantime, drivers and navigators may have to do a little mental translation exercise for a while. It's the road itself, but not the name anymore. It's an update designed so that in the long run neither the GPS nor the steering wheel can lose direction.