The Intermunicipal Community of the Algarve (AMAL) asked the Government to extend the period of exemption from tolls on Via do Infante for residents and local businesses, which ends on June 30, AMAL announced in a statement.
AMAL's Executive Board, which met on Monday, said it was concerned with the fact that the exemptions would end before the end of the EN125 rehabilitation works, which had been suspended for two months.
AMAL considers that the predictable increase in traffic on the EN125, when the exemption period ends, will affect citizens and companies, bringing "serious repercussions on the image and attractiveness of the main tourist region in the country".
According to that structure, in January and February there was a 60 percent decrease in traffic on the Via do Infante (A22), a reduction that should worsen from the end of June, with the end of toll exemptions.
AMAL also calls for the resumption of the EN125 requalification works, which have been suspended for two months due to financial difficulties of the construction consortium and whose completion was scheduled for the end of 2013.
Tolls in the former SCUT began to be collected on December 8, 2011, at nine cents per kilometer (one of the most expensive prices in the country), but with a regime of positive discrimination for residents and local companies, which guarantees ten free trips per month and discounts on the following. However, this regime is expected to end at the end of this month of June.
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