The Via do Infante Users Commission said this Tuesday that after the abolition of tolls on highway 22 (A22), on January 1st, the fight will continue to remove gantries, denounce the public-private partnership and maintain the pavement.
“We must continue fighting. The fight is not over yet. The Via do Infante Users Committee [CUVI]from this moment on, will continue to require the dismantling of the gantries. Because we don’t know if tomorrow we won’t have another government that, citing difficulties for the country, will be tempted to put the tolls back in place”, João Vasconcelos, spokesperson for the Via do Infante Users Commission (CUVI), told journalists.
The platform’s representative was speaking at a press conference held in Loulé, in the district of Faro, next to the A22, to mark the end of tolls on this former Scut (road free of charge for the user) from 2025.
The user commission also demands “public disclosure and denunciation of the PPP contract [parceria público-privada] da Via do Infante”, considering “it is necessary that those obscure issues that are unknown to the Algarve and the Portuguese people are made public and that the Government does not pay for the frauds that gave many millions [de euros] to the dealership.”
The platform will continue, on the other hand, “to demand that Via do Infante has an adequate floor” and that there is “adequate and rigorous maintenance”, highlighted João Vasconcelos, indicating that, on January 11th, CUVI will hold a forum in Loulé on these three themes.
On Wednesday, January 1st, to “celebrate the end of tolls in the Algarve”, the user committee called for a horn to be honked at the entrances and exits of Via do Infante, at 10am and 4pm.
CUVI also intends to change the name to the Commission of Users of Via do Infante and Estrada Nacional 125 (EN125), because “there is a lot to be done” on the EN125, namely the requalification of the road in the section between Olhão and Vila Real de Santo António.
João Vasconcelos highlighted the 14-year struggle of the user commission, which began in 2010, a year before the introduction of tolls in the Algarve, on December 8, 2011.
“It was an interesting fight and one that came out victorious, despite the damage it caused to the Algarve. (…) Many deaths, a lot of suffering, many families destroyed, but the conclusion drawn in the end is that it is worth fighting and congratulations to the Algarve”, he said.
João Vasconcelos admitted to being “aware” that there will only be an abolition of tolls on the A22, originated by a PS party initiative, “because there was a struggle” and “due to the debt that some parties owe to the Algarve”, in a direct reference to the socialists.
“In 2020, a resolution was approved in , which stipulated the elimination of tolls on Via do Infante until the EN125 was reclassified. If this had been fulfilled, it would have been very difficult to introduce tolls again and the PS never complied, the PS Government, under António Costa, never complied”, he concluded.
In May, Parliament approved the Socialist Party’s bill to end tolls on the ex-Scut from January 1, 2025. The proposal covers interior highways or roads where there are no alternatives that allow for efficient use. quality and safety.
The bill passed with votes in favor from PS, BE, PCP, Livre, Chega and PAN, and the abstention of the Liberal Initiative (IL). PSD and CDS voted against.
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