The first requalification works on the section of the EN125 between Olhão and Vila Real de Santo António (VRSA) will start in the third quarter of 2017 and will be ready in 2018, said the minister of Planning and Infrastructure Pedro Marques this Friday.
The interventions that are advancing before the end of the year are considered to be priorities, namely the area on the way from Olhão to Sotavento, the Almargem bridge and the creation of a new roundabout providing access to Praia Verde.
The intervention plan of Infraestruturas de Portugal in this part of the road that connects Vila do Bispo to VRSA was presented yesterday, in Tavira, and already includes a complete schedule of the different works to be carried out. Thus, those that start this year will be completed before the summer of 2018. The other projects, which are also the most costly and heavy, will be launched next and could last until 2020.
Although this process seems frozen for a long time, considering that it was announced the start of works for 2015, there was even homework done, which now allows for short/medium term planning.
The projects that will allow «return the legitimacy of the National title to this road», as the president of IP António Laranjo humorously illustrated, are already «closed and approved» – with the exception of one, that of the Variant to Olhão, which was "repeached" and will have a longer process.
To guarantee the requalification of this part of the EN125, there are six major projects (one more, that of the Olhão variant). The three that advance in 2017 are the least expensive, with budgets between 600 and 800 thousand euros, and those with shorter execution times.
The ones that will be released next year are heavier at all levels, both in terms of their cost (5 to 6 million euros each) and the time they will take (one to two years to be completed).
But let's go by parts. In the 3rd quarter of 2017, if the promises of the Government and IP are fulfilled, the works will begin in Olhão, Tavira and Castro Marim. In Olhão, a stretch of about 1,5 kilometers will be recovered, between the roundabout in the commercial area outside the city and the roundabout giving access to the A22.
In Castro Marim, IP will seek to eliminate one of the black spots on the road, especially in the summer, the crossing that gives access to Praia Verde, with an intervention that will focus on the 1,7 km section that goes from the roundabout that gives access to the A22, next to Altura, and the next roundabout, to Sotavento. Here, in addition to recovering the road, a new roundabout will be built on the Praia Verde access and the crossing to Praia do Cabeço will be reformulated.
Another priority is the work on the bridge over the Ribeira de Almargem, which will be the target of a “structural” intervention, which aims to stabilize and guarantee the safety conditions in this crossing.
See the images of the different projects:
With the most urgent cases resolved, IP will move on to the heaviest works. Firstly, the improvement of the road between the roundabout accessing the A22, in Olhão, and the city of Tavira, an intervention that will focus on a stretch of 17,7 km. Here, attention is focused on the intervention in Luz de Tavira, where the geometry of intersections will be corrected and «the problem of rainwater runoff, which causes great inconvenience, will be resolved once and for all».
The crossing of Luz de Tavira is one of the “nightmares” of those on the EN125 and, although the creation of a bypass was initially planned, it fell after the renegotiation of the contract with the concessionaire Rotas do Algarve Litoral levada carried out by the previous Government and has not yet been “resurrected”.
But, the mayor of Tavira assured journalists, "that doesn't mean it's forgotten." “The initial project called for it to go south, and we want it to go north. As there are no studies on this alternative and the passage to the North raises delicate property issues, as it is a dispersed housing area, we did not want to break even and let the other works advance. Later, after studying the subject well, we will submit a proposal», assured Jorge Botelho.
A fourth project is planned to recover the road between Tavira and Vila Nova de Cacela. In this project, in addition to the improvement of 11,3 kilometers of road, the construction of four new roundabouts is planned, one at the intersection with the EN397, another in Almargem, a third in Cumeada and a fourth in Santa Rita.
Also on the section between Vila Nova de Cacela and the access to the A22 in Altura, new roundabouts will be built, namely in the area of Carvoeira and at the intersection of access to Manta Rota.
The progress of these interventions results from the «effective commitment» that minister Pedro Marques says he has with the Algarve. The government official repeated the idea that "there are no first-rate and second-rate Algarvians" and considered that "it made no sense that, after having resolved the issue of works under the responsibility of the concessionaire, no progress was made with the works in Sotavento."
“This is an EN125 for everyone, which will be globally upgraded. We start, of course, with urgent works, which concern security and urban mobility, and we will gradually solve all the other problems», guaranteed the member of the Government.
In the end, Jorge Botelho, also president of AMAL – Algarve Intermunicipal Community, was pleased to see «a calendar, instead of a beautiful one powerpoint with no dates included there, as I have seen many». "We have dates, works for the end of 2017 and works in 2018. And the projects are all done and were all discussed with the Municipal Councils", he summarized.
Now, "come the competitions and the works", asks Jorge Botelho. “If you haven't finished on these dates, we tolerate it. If it's over, we celebrate. If you haven't started yet, which I don't believe, this will be “top to bottom”, as I usually say», he warned.
Intervention numbers (Extension | Cost | Completion time):
>>Olhão Section – Connection to the A22: 1,5 km | 600 thousand euros | 1st quarter of 2018
>>Olhão Section (A22 access) – Tavira: 17,7 km | 6 million euros | 2019/20
>>Tavira – Vila Nova Cacela section: 11,3 km | 5 million euros | 2019/20
>>Bridge over the Almargem River: 800 thousand euros | 2nd quarter of 2018
>>Vila Nova de Cacela Section – Access A22 (Height): 6 km | 5 million euros | 2019/20
>>Link section A22 – Vila Real de Santo António: 1,7 km | 600 thousand euros | 1st quarter of 2018
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