Infraestruturas de Portugal will invest a total of 700 million euros in Alentejo by the end of 2028 on road and rail works, announced the Secretary of State for Infrastructure, Hugo Espírito Santo. This amount will be distributed across the three districts of the region and includes lower-visibility projects in addition to the major works.
This Thursday the new Eastern Variant to Évora on Primary Route 2 was inaugurated, with 12.8 kilometres in length and motorway profile, meaning dual carriageway in each direction. The road connects the Eastern Évora Junction on Motorway 6 to National Road 18 and resulted from an investment of 54.9 million euros, funded by the Recovery and Resilience Plan.
The government official highlighted that the new section will contribute to road safety, given that roads with central reservations and two lanes are safer and allow greater fluidity. It is expected that the variant may remove between 30% and 40% of traffic circulating within the city of Évora, especially heavy vehicles and North-South connecting traffic that do not need to pass through the city centre.
The PRR was highlighted as having stimulated IP for a new cycle of growth and investment after several years in which the company was in a minimal maintenance logic. Political reactions were also mentioned, with the PCP demanding the completion of the IP2 section abandoned since 2011, and the PS MP Luís Dias defending that the Government should not politically appropriate investments decided and programmed by previous governments.
