The public tender for the construction work of the Variante a Olhão to EN 125 was launched this Monday, the 20th, for a base value of 20 million euros.
Interested parties have 32 days, counting from yesterday, to submit a proposal, reads the announcement of the procedure, which was published in Diário da República.
This new step towards completing the work, which will be paid in full with funds from the Recovery and Resilience Plan (PRR), was made possible thanks to an ordinance signed by Minister João Galamba, on October 23rd, at a time when the now former Minister of Infrastructure came to the region to see on the spot the evolution of the electrification works on the Algarve Line.
At the high, the perspective was that the competition would be launched within a period of “a few days”, so that the award could take place next year. «The expectation is that there could be work on the ground in 2024», said the then minister.
This is, moreover, a mandatory condition, since the contract execution period is 540 days, that is, a year and a half, and the works financed by the PRR must be completed by 2026.
In October, the announcement made by the now former ruler led mayor António Pina to consider that it was «a great day for Olhão and the entire Algarve region».
«The Variante is a long-standing desire of our municipality, which will represent a giant leap in the mobility and quality of life of the people of Olhão and the Algarve», considered the mayor of Olhão.
Initially, the Olhão bypass was supposed to be carried out as part of the requalification of the EN125, but the project was dropped by the Government of Pedro Passos Coelho, after the renegotiation of the Rotas do Algarve Litoral concession, in 2012. It was put on the table again during the first term of António Costa's socialist government.
In early 2017, Pedro Marques, the then minister of Planning and Infrastructure, came to Olhão to announce the launch of the competition for the preliminary study of this work, something that happened a few months later.
The progress of the process led the mayor António Pina to come forward highlight the importance of the work «for the development of Olhão as a city and municipality» and for «that this territory has an effective alternative road to the EN 125, which crosses the city, with the consequent constraints on car and pedestrian traffic».
At this time, the end of 2018 was still pointed out as the date for the start of the works, although it was highlighted that there were still many procedures to be done.
Reality gave reason to these warnings of caution, since, about a year later, in July 2018, the preliminary study was not yet completed. Still, Pedro Marques assured that the work was not forgotten.
In May 2019, the Environmental Impact Study of the project, meanwhile prepared and delivered by IP to the Environmental authorities, went to public consultation and ended up receiving a conditional favorable declaration.
Meanwhile, with the arrival of money from the so-called “European Bazooka”, the Bypass to the EN125 from Olhão was one of the few works of road infrastructure included in the Recovery and Resilience Plan, having advanced to the preparation of the execution project.
Completing this long process, on Monday the public tender for the project was launched.
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