Highway and railway: IP invests 700 million in Alentejo by the end of 2028

ANDm statements to the journalists, after presiding at the inauguration of the new Variant Born the Évora do Itinerário Principal 2 (IP2), in the vicinity of this Alentejo city, Secretary of State Hugo Espírito Santo said that the IP's action in the region is not only "great projects".

The company “will invest in Alentejo by the end of 2028, 700 million euros. We must not forget that there is much of what is done that does not have a visibility as this work has”, he argued.

“ With EUR 700 million, there is a lot of work that is done and that, perhaps, we do not look at it with this pomp and circumstance, but that is realized ", stressed the ruler.

According to the Secretary of State for Infrastructure, this ‘cake’ will be applied to works on the railway and highway, being distributed to the “three districts of Alentejo”.

The new Born Variant the Évora of the Main Itinerary 2 (IP2) today inaugurated resulted from an investment of 54.9 million euros, financed by the Recovery and Resilience Plan (PRR).

With 12.8 kilometers of length and motorway profile, i.e. double lane in each direction, the new variant connects the Nó de Évora Nascente of the Highway 6 (A6) to the National Road 18 (EN18), in the section between the Alentejo city and IP2.

Asked by journalists about the role of this new road in road safety, the Secretary of State for Infrastructure said it was “important” because it had a motorway profile.

“ We know that roads with central separator, with two lanes [running], are much safer, allow much more fluidity, much more comfort” and this type of profile “helps a lot to reduce what road accidents are.”.

And this variant “not only serves Évora”, it is a work that has “national dimension”, he added, noting that the country needs “a Alentejo that is much more connected”, so that “it can be developed and continue to grow”.

Asked by the Lusa agency about the road section still missing to complete the IP2, near Évora, the ruler assured that this will be “a subsequent step” to this work.

“IP is working to see when we can launch it and when we can do it,” he said.

Hugo Espírito Santo also emphasized that the PRR had the “virtue” to “stimulate IP for a new cycle of growth and investment”, after “several years” in which the company was “in a logic of minimal maintenance of what infrastructure was”.

On the other hand, the vice-president of the Évora Chamber, Jerónimo José, recalled that the variant opened today was a “very ambitious” project and will “improve traffic and road safety”, as well as “what circulation is in the city of Évora itself”.

According to studies carried out, the mayor predicted that he could remove “between 30% and 40%” of the traffic that runs within the city, especially with regard to the “transit of heavyweight and people who make the North-South or South-North connection, who do not necessarily have to go to Évora”.

In a statement released today, the Directorate of the Regional Organization of Évora (DOREV) of the PCP recalled that “IP2 is not complete” and complained about the completion of the section between the new variant and the Ramal of S. Manços, whose works stopped in 2011.

“ It is essential to conclude the remaining part abandoned in the Government of Passos Coelho and Portas and later governments, which cannot continue to abandon, hidden behind the advertised ", complained the communist structure.

The deputy of the PS elected by Évora, Luís Dias, in a statement, considered “a good news” the opening of the Variant Born of Évora IP2, but argued that the PSD/CDS-PP Government “should not take political ownership of investments decided, programmed and funded under the PRR by the socialist governments”.

It is a work “extremely relevant to mobility in the region and responds to a fair demand from the populations, but it must be said that it did not start from scratch in 2024”, he stressed.

The road “made part of the investment strategy in the road network defined by the governments of the PS, properly framed and now completed”, said the MP of the PS, stating that the PRR “allowed putting into motion investments that for decades have been postponed and that today begin to transform the territory”.