The requalification of IC1, between Alcácer do Sal and Grândola, will be completed in 2019, before next summer, announced yesterday, in the contract's consignment document, the minister of Planning and Infrastructure.
The work, which will cost 4,6 million euros, provides for the improvement of a 13-kilometer stretch between Alcácer do Sal and Grândola and has been claimed for many years by mayors and populations of the Alentejo coast.
«Today we have a project of 4,6 million euros in global investment, but we also have an investment of 600 thousand euros to do all the paving of the approximately 27 kilometers to the south of this section, which was also in need of additional intervention. Many of the deficiencies that are identified in the southern section, the most critical, of course, will also be recovered», said minister Pedro Marques.
Vítor Proença, mayor of Alcácer do Sal, said that the signing of the consignment document, “is a joy, in the sense that it demonstrates that the commitment of the Municipalities of Alcácer do Sal and Grândola, of their populations, of the commissions of users, and also of those who, in the Assembly of the Republic, fought and pressed for this day to come true».
The mayor added that “the turnaround in this process, which has always suffered several delays, took place when the matter was put directly by me to the Prime Minister, when I told him that I had to take up this process, because the delay in the works was too bad for the region and for the country».
Taking advantage of the presence of the Minister of Planning and Infrastructure, the mayor also underlined the “need for Infrastructures of Portugal and the State to intervene on the road that connects Alcácer do Sal to Comporta, a section that is in growing demand, and also on the road between Alcácer and the Torrão».
This work will be carried out by the same company responsible for the rehabilitation of the Alberge/Casebres road and for the recent paving and painting of many of the roads in Alcácer do Sal.
For his part, Figueira Mendes, mayor of Grândola, stressed that this is the culmination of a process that went beyond all limits, recalling the numerous protest actions and demonstrations promoted in recent years by the population of the Alentejo coast to demand the requalification of that section of the IC1.
The mayor of Grândola took advantage of the presence of Minister Pedro Marques to claim, once again, that the works on the IC1 extend to the Grândola Sul junction of the A2 – a section that is also quite degraded, as well as the urgent need for improvements at the access to Lousal and from an uneven passage to the national road 120.
António Figueira Mendes also recalled that the region needs to carry out the road-rail structuring investments that have been postponed for a long time, namely, the completion of the works on the IC33 and the continuation of the works on the IP8 – Sines-Vila Verde de Ficalho connection, the requalification and modernization of the network railway and rolling stock for passengers and goods, and the completion of the railway connection between Sines and Caia for goods and passengers.
At the ceremony, the mayor recalled and valued «the commitment and determination with which the Local Authorities, the Intermunicipal Community of Alentejo Litoral, the User Commissions, the Companies, the Security Forces and the population in general, fought for this just cause – without ever lowering your arms».
The signing of the consignment notice for the IC1 improvement contract between Alcácer do Sal and Grândola, which took place at the IP Maintenance Center in Grândola, was attended by the presidents of the Municipal Councils of Alcácer do Sal and Grândola, as well as by António Laranjo and minister Pedro Marques.
Comments