The Minister of Infrastructure and Housing, Pedro Nuno Santos, said this Wednesday in Águeda that there are PRR investments that, being public, benefit the private sector by reducing contextual costs for companies.
Pedro Nuno Santos participated in the signing of the financing contract for the “Aveiro-Águeda Road Axis”, chaired by the president of the Center for Coordination and Regional Development (CCDRC), Isabel Damasceno, within the framework of the Recovery and Resilience Plan (RRP) .
In the session, which was attended by the Minister of Infrastructure and Housing, Pedro Nuno Santos, and the Minister of Territorial Cohesion, Ana Abrunhosa, the financing contract of 40 million euros for the Aveiro/Águeda road axisthrough the Recovery and Resilience Plan.
Regretful that the country, in recent decades, has recorded a low level of public investment, the Minister of Infrastructure and Housing considered the moment “historic”, since since his youth he had heard businessmen complain about a new road connecting Águeda with Aveiro.
That government official recalled that Brussels’ reluctance to support the construction of new motorways had to be overcome, which has been possible thanks to the connection it establishes between two of the largest industrial centers, Aveiro and Águeda.
As for other municipalities that wanted new road accessibility, specifically the neighboring municipality of Sever do Vouga, which demands a new connection to the A25 to serve the industrial estate, Pedro Nuno Santos said that it was not possible to include it in the PRR, but realized that its funding will be provided by other means.
The minister took the opportunity to also mention investments in the railway, specifically in modernization of the Vouga Line from Aveiro to Espinho, through PT 2030 and the “housing challenge, creating an offer for middle-income households, with a set of 130 affordable rental homes in Aveiro that will be launched “this month”.
The Minister of Territorial Cohesion, Ana Abrunhosa, said that the financing of the Aveiro/Águeda road axis is due to the dynamics of the Intermunicipal Community of the Aveiro Region and the two municipalities involved that agreed to define priority investments, uniting the territory around to the same strategic objective.
“We do not have a maternity hospital in Coimbra because the region did not understand what was a priority”lament.
Jorge Almeida, mayor of Águeda, said he felt “proud” at the moment and thanked Pedro Nuno Santos for his contribution to unlocking a coveted work for decades, because he was a “key player” in the process.
Ribau Esteves, mayor of Aveiro, referred to “decades of demagoguery” with the promise that the road would be built until the Intermunicipal Community decided to continue working with the municipalities, a decision that “changed everything.”
“We are going to do it once and for all,” he concluded.
Source: Observadora
