The president of the Municipal Council of Penela, Eduardo Nogueira dos Santos, called, first the media and, later, all parliamentary groups of the Assembly of the Republic to visit the municipality of Penela, with the aim of seeing the impacts caused by the closure of the old IC3. Since the ‘storm train’, which ended on February 10, around 100 kilometers of the old IC3 have been closed due to damage to the pavement, which is causing “severe embarrassment” to the population, guarantees the mayor. Inhabitants and traders in the region complained, in a report broadcast by TVI, about alternatives that involve much more time and kilometers, and the economic impact that this ban is having. The road is the responsibility of Infraestruturas de Portugal (IP).
Asked by DN about the reason for this delay in the reconstruction of the road, IP guarantees that “it maintains, from the first moment, permanent contact with local entities, namely with the President of the Municipal Council of Penela, who is duly informed about the complexity of the necessary intervention and the evolution of the ongoing steps towards its resolution”. In the same sense, IP clarifies that “with regard to the section of the old IC3, between kilometers 13+500 and 14+300, following initial studies and surveys, the preparation of the execution project is in the final stage of its delivery for the month of June, after which IP will launch the work”, says an official source.
In other words, before the summer, there will guarantee no section in operation. And that’s if everything happens within the expected deadlines.
A project that should have an estimated cost – today – of, at least 1.5 million euros, according to some sources in the construction sector heard by DN. This is because “preliminarily, it is accepted that the intervention may involve earthworks, drainage and the execution of containment structures, and may include the use of indirect foundations, if this proves necessary”, IP also tells DN.
“At this stage, It is not yet possible to indicate a concrete date for the reopening of this sectionwhich will only be possible after the completion of the slope stabilization works and reconstruction of the road platform. Until traffic conditions are restored, routes via the A13-1, A13, EN342 and EN110 remain alternatives”, continues IP.
What is also a fact is that there is a significant lack of contractors with labor available to carry out this work.which has not only caused delays in the delivery of some projects, but has also not helped the scenario of rising prices that was already experienced after Storm Kristin – which caused an exponential increase in the need for construction companies – and which was worsened by the escalation of the conflict in Iran.
In turn, the mayor of Penela recognizes IP’s commitment to finding a solution, but continues to leave public warnings about how this situation is affecting the response capacity of emergency services.
According to Diário das Beiras, the municipality moved forward with the requalification of alternative municipal roads, assuming an investment of more than half a million euros, without any guarantee of reimbursement.
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