In mid-July, it was announced that the reopening of the level crossing at the CP station in Olhão was for days. Since then, nothing has stopped people from passing, but the security conditions were never created and the days turned into months.
On October 12th, the works necessary to restore the conditions that the passage had before it was closed, ironically, for security reasons, will finally be completed.
The date has been advanced to Sul Informação by Infraestruturas de Portugal, a publicly owned company that took over the management of the railways, as part of the merger of Refer and Estradas de Portugal. The level crossing will be prepared so that people can cross safely and a labyrinth will be installed», revealed the IP spokeswoman.
While this process took place, the crossing remained unimpeded, although the crossing conditions were far from being the best. On one side, there is a moat (excavated by Refer a few months ago) with two joists serving as a makeshift “bridge”. On the other, there is rubble and an uneven area, as well as a “ladder” made of loose stones, in the area that gives access to the street.
The delay in carrying out the works that will allow for safety to pedestrians had to do, among other things, with "the preparation of the project", a process that was carried out in conjunction with the City Council of Olhão and which "went very well", according to IP Since the 13th of July, the day on which the reopening of the level crossing was announced, company and local authority technicians were in contact, so that the elaborated project would respond to the wishes of both parties.
The rehabilitated level crossing will also have human vigilance, for which "training in this regard" has been given to the people who will be in charge of this task.
This part of the agreement was, according to the mayor of Olhão António Pina, the one that caused a delay in the reopening of the crossing. «It wasn't bad will on the part of Infraestruturas de Portugal or something like that. They insisted that it had to have human surveillance, as it was the law. This forced us to launch a public tender, to hire a company to do this. This took just a few weeks. In addition, they had to undergo specific training, which has already been completed," he explained to the Sul Informação the mayor from Oyenne.
António Pina also announced that the municipality should be able "to launch the tender for the work on the lower passage this month", with the perspective of starting the work itself "at the end of the year or in the beginning of 2016". The project is practically completed and contemplates “the elevation of the pedestrian area and its widening”, still maintaining the sidewalk on both sides of the underpass.
The controversial closure of the level crossing, which besides protests of the population, motivated an authentic game of cat and mouse of forced closures and reopenings, between Refer and unknown people, was made before the merger between Refer and Estradas de Portugal.
After the merger of the two companies, the president of IP António Ramalho came to Olhão to sign a protocol with the Chamber of Olhão, to remodel the underpass for pedestrians, which connects Avenidas de República and Bernardino Ribeiro. In this protocol, the «temporary reopening» of the level crossing was foreseen, until the work on the lower crossing is completed and there are conditions for everyone to use it, namely people with reduced mobility, the elderly and those accompanying baby carriages.
IP ended up admitting that the underpass does not have the necessary conditions to be an alternative to the level crossing that serves the entire population, due to its steep slope. That's why I accepted pay, in full, for the refurbishment works.
See the photos (Hugo Rodrigues/Sul Informação):
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