After six frustrating years of delays, Faro’s “North” bypass is finally set to open this month.
The 2.5km bypass, which will link Faro to the EN125 and other municipal roads, is expected to open “in stages” throughout August as some areas of the road are still incomplete, mayor Rogério Bacalhau told Lusa news agency.
He added that roadworks could have been completed sooner but suffered setbacks such as “a water main and electrical wires” that had to be relocated.
Estimates are that the bypass will be used daily by 20,000 vehicles which were previously forced into bottlenecks in the Algarve capital’s town centre.
The €17 million bypass project was launched in 2009 but was put on hold in 2011 due to money trouble with the consortium, led by construction group EDIFER, in charge of the roadwork.
The roadwork is now in the hands of concession Rotas do Algarve Litoral.
The construction of the bypass also included building three bridges, six overpasses and one underpass.
The announcement follows the long-awaited opening of the EN125 bypass in Lagos, which finally saw excessive traffic channeled out of the town (click here http://portugalresident.com/en125-lagos-bypass-finally-open-to-traffic).
