Bike path network between Porto, Matosinhos and Gondomar should only be completed in 2025

The network of cycle paths and cycle paths that will connect the municipalities of Porto, Matosinhos and Gondomar should only be completed in 2025, according to a letter from the Porto Chamber to which Lusa had access this Saturday.

In response to a request sent in February by Bloco de Esquerda, and to which Lusa had access, the Porto Chamber clarifies that the scheduled date for the completion of the works was November 31, but that “it was necessary to reschedule the works ”.

“It was necessary to form groups of contracting entities with the municipalities of Matosinhos and Gondomar, which meant that all decisions to contract, as well as licensing and approvals of project phases had to be processed separately in each municipality, causing the extension of the deadlines, with a negative impact on the initially decided schedule”, reads the document, dated March 3 and signed by the councilor for Urbanism of the Porto Chamber, Pedro Baganha.

At issue are the applications made to the Environmental Fund for the construction of cycle links between Porto (Asprela), Matosinhos (S. Mamede de Infesta) and Gondomar (Rio Tinto).

According to the Porto City Council, the preliminary project for the intercity cycle path between Porto and Matosinhos is “approved” and work is due to start on January 1, 2024, with completion of the work expected on January 31, 2025.

The project for the creation of this intercity cycle path is worth around 1.7 million, with the Environmental Fund contributing with 750 thousand euros and the remaining amount will be borne by the municipalities of Porto (40%) and Matosinhos (54%).

The project for the intermunicipal cycle path between Porto and Gondomar (Rio Tinto) is in the “revision phase”, with the municipality predicting that the project will start on April 15, 2024 and end on May 15, 2025.

This project costs around 970,000 euros and will be shared in 728,000 euros by the Environmental Fund. The remaining amount will be borne by the municipality of Porto (70%) and by the municipality of Gondomar (30%).

In the document, Pedro Baganha also says that he questioned the Environmental Fund about the possibility of revising the work schedule, as well as the initially planned budget, and is “waiting for a response”.

In a letter sent on February 22, the BE councilor in the Porto Chamber, Sérgio Aires, questions the mayor about the status and degree of execution of these projects, announced in May 2020.

Already in a statement sent this Saturday, BE points out that “no explanation is given for the non-implementation of the extension of the cycle path network announced in May 2020, in a total of over 35 kilometers of cycle paths”.

“The deadline for the implementation of the intercity route network was once again postponed, from November 2023 to January 2025, in a new delay of more than a year”, adds the party.