The old Torralta roundabout, right on top of the sandy beach of Praia de Alvor, was demolished this week…but only to retreat a few dozen meters inland (see 3D image above), allowing the recovery of the primary dune, which in that area it is very fragile and can cause security issues.
The works, which have generated so much controversy and misinformation in recent days, especially on social networks, have nothing to do with the Detailed Plan for Praia de Alvor/3 Irmãos, whose elaboration has just begun, but rather with a Master plan for the zone, started in 2007.
In fact, the relocation of the Torralta roundabout and the construction of another 1500 meters of wooden walkway, connecting to the existing one near Alvor and along the estuary, is really the final phase of this master plan, which involved several entities, such as the Câmara de Portimão, the IPTM, the APA/ARH, the Pestana Group and other private business groups.
Within the scope of this master plan, in addition to the two sections of walkway, the Ria de Alvor bar was dredged beforehand, with sand replacement to reinforce the beaches.
Sebastião Teixeira, responsible for the ARH/Portuguese Environment Agency in the Algarve, the entity that coordinates the ongoing intervention, explained to Sul Informação, visiting the site under construction next to Praia de Alvor/Torralta, that the objective is to «relocate the roundabout, removing human occupation of the dunes».
But the roundabout does not disappear. It will only be moved further inland, while parking will be ordered. «People will now be able to go to the beach in comfort, through the wooden walkway. And they'll even have some stools, also made of wood, to sit and watch the sea», announced the person in charge.
As in that place, due to decades of disorderly trampling, the primary dune was “very vulnerable to the action of the sea”, in fact it barely even existed, the intervention also foresees the restoration of the dune, its modeling and renaturalisation. "We are going to restore what was here before the roundabout was built," added Sebastião Teixeira.
To do this, the machines are already working on Alvor beach, to put the missing sand back in the area. «With this dune as vulnerable as it is, and with the constructions right here, if a new Hercules comes, this is where there are problems. Even for security reasons, this is what we want to avoid with this intervention", guaranteed the official, in statements to Sul Informação.
«Since we are building a wooden walkway here, it would be enough to stop the constant trampling for the wind to try to make the dune grow. But we are anticipating the action of the wind», explained geologist Sebastião Teixeira.
In all, this new section of the bridge, which will connect the area almost at the beginning of Praia dos Três Irmãos to the parking lot of palm trees, next to the Alvorense stadium, will have 1,5 kilometers. In addition to the 3,5 kilometers of walkway that already exist next to Alvor and the estuary, there will be five kilometers of almost continuous walkway, «all with conditions for people with reduced mobility».
The work of the footbridge and the restoration of the dune, in charge of the APA/ARH, as well as the roundabout, under the responsibility of the Pestana Group, «should be ready by the end of the month and I'm sure they will be ready before the start of the season. bathing», assured Sebastião Teixeira.
In this last phase of the master plan of Alvor, are being invested close to 350 thousand euros. But when the works are finished, residents of Portimo, tourists and visitors will have a wooden walkway five kilometers long (the longest in the entire Algarve), as well as a new roundabout and more orderly parking to use.
See photos of the works in progress and 3D images of the walkways and the new roundabout:
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