In a statement, the mayor of Portimão, Álvaro Bila, said that on 20 September he had requested the Minister of Infrastructure and Housing, Miguel Pinto Luz, for a temporary exemption from tolls on the section of the A22 between Portimão and Lagoa, until the end of the year, while work on the ER125 bridge is underway.

The mayor expressed his “concern about the negative impacts” that the works have caused on traffic in the region, stating that “the constraints on mobility are significant and much greater than initially anticipated”.

According to the letter, between 10 and 12 thousand vehicles use the bridge every day and there has been the formation of “long traffic queues, both on the roads where the work is taking place and on alternative roads, resulting in journeys that used to take 10 minutes and now take between 30 and 40 minutes”, which has caused “great inconvenience to the population and damage to the local economy.”

For Álvaro Bila, the road currently undergoing work “is an essential access to Portimão Hospital, worsening traffic problems and compromising emergency response and safe access to healthcare”.

The mayor also mentioned that the diversion of traffic to the centre of Portimão, via the old bridge, “has overloaded the city’s roads, increasing travel times and creating additional difficulties for drivers.”

“Although we recognise the importance of these interventions to ensure the safety and maintenance of the infrastructure, I am convinced, shared by the population of the municipality, that the exemption from tolls on the section of the A22 between Portimão and Lagoa, in both directions and during the period of the works, would contribute significantly to the reduction of traffic, facilitating access to the hospital, the city and neighbouring municipalities”, explained the mayor.

For the mayor, “the temporary exemption would help to mitigate the current traffic problems, improving the quality of life of residents and visitors.”

The end of tolls on the A22 and the other former SCUT 8 (No Cost for the User) is scheduled for 1 January, after the Assembly of the Republic approved, last June, a proposal by the PS to that effect.

The bill, which comes into force on January 1, 2025, aims to end tolls on the A4 - Transmontana and Marão Tunnel, A13 and A13-1 - Pinhal Interior, A22 - Algarve, A23 - Beira Interior, A24 - Interior Norte, A25 - Beiras Litoral and Alta and A28 - Minho on the sections between Esposende and Antas and between Neiva and Darque.

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