Rockfall closes road in Ponta do Sol.
Célia Pessegueiro regrets that there is no support from the Regional Government for the maintenance of this section that is much sought after by those who visit us.
A collapse near the famous waterfall on Estrada Regional 101, in the municipality of Ponta do Sol, motivated the closure of this long-traveled path, either by visitors and residents, or by the owners of agricultural land.
The stones, which broke off at dawn from Tuesday to Wednesday on what is also known as the Estrada dos Anjos, motivated its closure by the Ponta do Sol City Council, because the municipality has been responsible for preserving the section since 2013, when the Regional Government passed the ‘testimony’ of the responsibility of maintaining these roads to the municipalities.
Now, contacted by Diário Notícias, the mayor of Ponta-Solense, Célia Pessegueiro, explained that as early as Wednesday morning she learned of the collapse, even next to the waterfall, “which unfortunately is very usual at this time of the year, especially after the rains “.
“Fortunately”, she joked, this kind of situation “has always occurred during the night, not hitting anyone, nor causing any material damage”.
This type of situation is very common on that road, given that we are facing a very high escarpment that is not of massive rock. It consists of very sandy stone, with many cracks, which occasionally cause these detachments. For this reason, we have already asked for the intervention of the Regional Government in order to obtain a solution for that location and work together in this direction.
The mayor guarantees that he has “several times” remembered the existence of this problem and the emergence of a solution with the Regional Government. “The truth is that the road is still officially closed since the end of 2016, exactly because of the collapses, and until now there has never been the right safety conditions to restore normal operation”, he warns.
In addition, it is necessary to point out, in the opinion of Célia Pessegueiro, that “this is a road that also gives access to agricultural land, which makes people take risks” even after the municipality warns “several times about this danger”.