After two months of deafening silence, the Portuguese government has finally confirmed that the EN125 roadworks will only start again in 2017.
The renovations were supposed to resume in September after a two-month summer break.
Infrastructure Minister Pedro Marques blames the delay on negotiating a new contract with concession company Algarve Litoral, a process which he says he hopes to complete by the end of the year.
Speaking to journalists in Faro, Marques said that the roadworks between Vila do Bispo and Olhão should be completed by the summer of 2017, adding that renovations between Olhão and Vila Real de Santo António – not included in the previous PPP (public-private partnership) – will be carried out “gradually” and will be dependent on the budget of Portugal’s infrastructure authority, Infraestruturas de Portugal.
Jorge Botelho, mayor of Tavira and head of the Algarve municipalities’ association (AMAL), said that resuming the EN125 roadworks is “urgent” because the region’s main non-tolled road cannot be hampered by delays.
