Faro's mayor, Rogério 'One Lane' Bacalhau, should resist the temptation of answering questions in radio interviews until at least he has an opinion.
Sul Informaçao reported on an interview that Bacalhau gave on the University of Faro’s radio station about the proposed new bridge from the mainland to Faro Island.
The construction proposal for which Faro Council is going to tender is for a two lane bridge, one in and one out, but one of the lanes is for bicycles and pedestrians only, or emergency vehicles when necessary, with the lane carrying vehicles controlled, as now, by traffic lights that are regarder with a laissez-faire attitude which would not shame a French lorry driver after a liquid lunch.
This arrangement does nothing to help the flow of tourist vehicles to and from the island, but Bacalhau neither agrees or disagrees.
The current situation is that cars queue, sometimes for a hour of more, to enter the island and become jammed on the one lane bridge as on the island, traffic movement is dictated by the number of cars crawling along trying to find a parking space.
Trying to get off the island, a process which should be made swift and simple, is hampered severely by blockages on the bridge which last through green and red lights, back to green and on to the second red. Traffic trying to leave from the western side of the island has little chance of even joining the main queue unless there is a police officer there to allow cars to join those trying to leave from the east side which have the priority.
The new bridge layout announced by the company Polis Ria Formosa, responsible for the work, gives us a bridge with one traffic lane and so, €3 million later, the tourist is not better off and will simply continue to turn away, deploying rather loud U-turns.
Bacalhau said at interview that Faro Camara may opt for an alternative solution, ‘if that’s what people want.’ At this late stage this is not a good enough response when about to spend millions on a bridge that simply replaces one guaranteed traffic jam with another.
The tendering parameters are "ready and should be released within one to two months” but this tender is for the construction of a system that already does not work and is not what people want at all. Bacalhau, ever the politician, assured Sul Informaçao and the University of Algarve Radio that the issue of single lane for cars “is not definitive,” - it is not sensible either but this has not stopped Faro council in the past.
“The only project I know has two lanes, although one of the lanes is for pedestrians and cyclists. In an emergency situation, it is clear that this lane will open for ambulances and fire engines. This will be an option for the Council in the future," waffled the mayor.
Although aware of the possibility that the bridge could be arranged in such a way as to make it sensible, Bacalhau explained that there is a technical reason for it to have just one traffic lane.
"At the first meeting I had with the technicians of Polis Ria Formosa, I posed the question of why not consider at the outset two lanes for cars (one in, and one out). I was told that it would not bring great advantage in July and August, the most critical time in terms of traffic, because it’s better that vehicles queue before crossing the bridge as when the beach is crowded, if vehicles had good access it would just mean more congestion on the island," he said.
The mayor added that if people really wanted a different bridge, it would mean starting the process all over again and not having the bridge at all for another four or five years. With the current project, if the contest is launched in the next few months and "if all goes well”, work could start “next year” and would finish in 2017 at best.
The Rogerio Bacalhau was interviewed on the radio programme 'Impressões.'
Questions that were not asked include, what is the reason for the new bridge, who defined the traffic flow system and what were the criteria, why will it take so long to build, why is the project cost €3 million when the country’s leading civil engineer specialising in bridges says it could be built for half this amount, if the idea is to continue to choke the inbound traffic then why not say so and why not use traffic lights to restrict traffic entering the island at peak times, why would a redesign add two years to the completion date, and has the mayor ever been to the bridge on a busy bank holiday?
