NEW’S | Berta Cabral stresses importance of project to link Vitorino Nemésio Road to Angra Ring Road

The Recovery and Resilience Plan (RRP) of the Azores has allocated 60 million Euros for the construction of ten bypasses and the redevelopment of roads on the islands of Terceira, Santa Maria, Graciosa, São Jorge, Pico, Faial and São Miguel.

The works that have been completed, are in progress, are in project phase and those whose public tenders are about to be launched are the responsibility of the Regional Secretariat for Tourism, Mobility and Infrastructures, through the Regional Directorate for Public Works.

According to the Regional Secretary, Berta Cabral, the main goal of this measure is to create conditions for a more balanced economic development, promoting better conditions for the mobility of economic operators, mainly outside major urban centres.

“The interventions in the Regional Road Network also aim to reduce distances, travel times and traffic congestion. With the investment underway, we intend to expand and improve road infrastructures in the Azores as well as to improve accessibility to population centres, to the areas of economic activity and to the main entry infrastructures of each island. In turn, we also intend to build bypasses to the main urban centres, which will reduce the need to cross urban areas,” said the government official. 

Berta Cabral reiterated that “all the roads provided for in the RRP will be built.”

“We are fully complying with the stipulated deadlines,” she added.

Overall, under the projects funded by the RRP, 34 kilometres of roads will be built or upgraded on seven of the nine islands of the Azores.

On Santa Maria Island, for example, the project for the construction of the Vila do Porto bypass, an investment of about two million Euros, is currently under the compulsory purchase phase.

On São Miguel Island, the 7.7 million-Euro project to improve accessibility between Furnas and Povoação (1st section of the Furnas Bypass) is underway and is expected to be completed in April 2024. In turn, the Portal do Vento Bypass in Sete Cidades should be completed in August, representing an investment of 700 thousand Euros.

Also on São Miguel Island, the Capelas Bypass (30 million-Euro investment) is currently in the project phase, while the construction of the São Roque Bypass (800 thousand-Euro investment) has already been completed.

On the island of Terceira, the works construction work for the promotion of accessibility, mobility and road safety conditions on the link between the Vitorino Nemésio Road and the Angra Ring Road, an investment of 2.5 million Euros, will be carried out very soon.

In this specific case, the compulsory purchase process has already begun and the launch of the procedure is expected to take place next September.

Meanwhile, on Graciosa Island, the project to link Regional Road no. 3-2 and Regional Road no. 4-2 has already been awarded and should begin in August this year, corresponding to an investment of 800 thousand Euros.

On the island of São Jorge, the work to improve accessibility, mobility and road safety – north-south link – should be awarded soon. It represents an investment of 5.3 million Euros.

The construction of the ring road to the town of Madalena on the island of Pico, an investment of 400 thousand Euros, has been awarded and the work should begin in August this year.

The construction of the 2nd phase of the Horta bypass on the island of Faial is about to be awarded. This work corresponds to an investment of 7.8 million Euros.

GRA/RÁDIOILHÉU