LISBON’S SOCIALIST (PS) candidate, Manuel Maria Carrilho, made clear last week that he would maintain the construction of the Marquês tunnel, if he won the October 9 council elections.
However, he would not allow the project to proceed as far as Avenida Fontes Pereira de Melo. “We want to minimise its disadvantages, while maximising its advantages,” he underlined, saying that his party’s objective was to cut the amount of vehicles coming into Lisbon by half. Carrilho accepted that he would approve the stretch of tunnel from the Rotunda do Marquês de Pombal, designed to take cars out of the city centre, while left wing Bloco de Esquerda candidate, Sá Fernandes, said that details on the link between the Marquês tunnel and the metro station would be divulged by the National Civil Engineering Laboratory. “If they don’t give authorisation, it would be better to stop the tunnel next to Rua Castilho.”
