The Regional Secretary for Equipment and Infrastructure, Pedro Rodrigues, confirmed today that the Regional Government is working on a new parallel road route between Ribeira Brava, Ponta do Sol and Calheta, integrating the duplication of the current expressway, which will have two lanes in each direction, in a model similar to the region’s highways.
According to the official, the current level of traffic already “clearly justifies” this transformation. The coastal road between Ribeira Brava and Tábua, especially in the summer, has experienced constant congestion, which led the Secretariat to include this project in the package for the future road concession.
Pedro Rodrigues stated that the Government wants to launch the new concession during this term, which will replace the current coastal road and the expressway, whose contracts expire in 2026 and 2029, respectively. The duplication will be done in two phases: first to Ponta do Sol and, later, to Calheta, based on a completely new route that aims to guarantee greater fluidity, safety and traffic capacity.
The secretary revealed that the preliminary study will be launched now, with the expectation that, “by the end of next year,” there will already be a defined technical solution, with estimated costs and more specific route variations.
The governor stressed that the development of this facility, combined with new real estate and hotel investments planned for the area, will reinforce the need to improve access and increase road capacity in the far west.
Pedro Rodrigues reiterated that the concession model will maintain the already known principle: there will be no tolls. It will be a solution similar to the current one, guaranteeing free circulation on all main roads.
Meanwhile, the work in Quebradas, between Quebradas and Amparo, which is already underway, will be integrated into this broader plan. The first phase will be completed in the first half of next year, and the Government intends to launch the second phase within the same cycle.
With this set of projects, the regional government is betting on a qualitative leap in mobility in the West, reinforcing road capacity between municipalities, preparing new growth hubs and responding to the continuous increase in traffic.