Infraestruturas de Portugal (IP) plans to invest 700 million euros in Alentejo by the end of 2028, in rail and road interventions distributed across the three districts of the region. The announcement was made by the Secretary of State for Infrastructure, Hugo Espírito Santo, in the vicinity of Évora, following the inauguration of the new Eastern Variant of IP2, an infrastructure of 12.8 kilometres that represented an investment of 54.9 million euros, funded by the Recovery and Resilience Plan.
The new Eastern Variant to Évora of IP2 has a motorway profile, with two lanes in each direction, establishing continuity between the Eastern Évora Junction of the A6 and National Road 18. The Deputy Mayor of Évora, Jerónimo José, highlighted that studies indicate that the infrastructure could remove between 30% and 40% of the traffic currently recorded in the city centre, mainly heavy vehicles and North-South and South-North through traffic.
Hugo Espírito Santo stated that IP is working on the missing section of IP2 near Évora, considering that this intervention will be a subsequent step, but did not provide a date for the launch of the works. The government official also considered that the PRR had the virtue of stimulating IP for a new cycle of growth and investment, after several years in which the company operated under a logic of minimum maintenance.
The inauguration prompted divergent political positions. The PCP recalled that IP2 is not completed and demanded the execution of the section between the new variant and the São Manços Branch, whose works have been stopped since 2011. PS deputy Luís Dias considered the infrastructure extremely relevant, but contested any possible political appropriation by the current government, stating that the investment was decided, programmed and funded under the PRR by PS governments.
