According to the Porto City Hall, the preliminary design of the intermunicipal bicycle path between Porto and Matosinhos is "approved" and the work should start on January 1, 2024, with completion of the work expected by January 31, 2025
Author: Mário Cruz | Credits: Lusa
The network of bike paths and cycle routes that will connect the municipalities of Porto, Matosinhos and Gondomar should only be completed in 2025, according to a letter from the Porto City Council to which Lusa had access.
In response to a request sent in February by the Left Bloc, and that Lusa had access today, the Porto City Council explains that the date set for the completion of the work was November 31, but that "it was necessary to proceed to the reprogramming of the work.
"It was necessary to form groups of contracting entities with the municipalities of Matosinhos and Gondomar, which meant that all contracting decisions, as well as licensing and approval of project phases had to be processed separately in each municipality, causing the extension of deadlines, with negative impact on the schedule initially decided," reads the document, dated March 3 and signed by the councilman of Urbanism of the Municipality of Porto, Pedro Baganha.
At issue are the applications made to the Environmental Fund for the construction of cycling links between Porto (Asprela), Matosinhos (S. Mamede de Infesta) and Gondomar (Rio Tinto).
According to the Porto City Hall, the preliminary design of the intermunicipal bike path between Porto and Matosinhos is "approved" and the work should start on January 1, 2024, with completion of the work expected by January 31, 2025.
The project for the creation of this intermunicipal bikeway is around 1.7 million euros, with the Environmental Fund contributing 750 thousand euros and the remaining amount will be supported by the municipalities of Porto (40%) and Matosinhos (54%).
The project of the intermunicipal bike path between Porto and Gondomar (Rio Tinto) is in "revision phase", and the local authority expects the work to start on April 15, 2024 and end on May 15, 2025.
This project is around 970 thousand euros and will be co-financed in 728 thousand euros by the Environmental Fund. The remaining amount will be supported by the municipality of Porto (70%) and the municipality of Gondomar (30%).
In the document, Pedro Baganha also says he has questioned the Environmental Fund about the possibility of reviewing the timing of the work, as well as the budget initially provided, and is "awaiting response.
In a letter sent on February 22, the BE councilman in the Porto City Council, Sérgio Aires, asks the mayor about the status and degree of implementation of these projects, announced in May 2020.
In a statement sent today, the BE highlights that "no explanation is given for the non-completion of the extension of the bike paths network announced in May 2020, a total of 35 kilometers of bike paths".
"The deadline for the implementation of the network of inter-municipal routes was once again postponed, from November 2023 to January 2025, in a new delay of more than a year," adds the party.