Time-sensitive work to add a cycle and pedestrian lane alongside the existing bridge to Faro Island has come to a grinding halt.
Traffic is being channelled into one lane to and from the island as there is a large section of the road cut away but there is no sign of workmen pressing ahead gamely to complete the job before the tourist season starts in earnest.
The body responsible for the work is the Polis Ria Formosa company which unhelpfully has stated that the work "has not stopped, it has been suspended."
The head of Montenegro Parish Council, Steven Sousa Piedade, is not impressed as if the traffic is in chaos now, come the early summer it will be intolerable unless Polis gets a move on and completes the work on time.
The head of Polis, vying for the title of the Algarve’s most despised public figure due his demolition programme on the Ria Formosa islands, is Sebastião Teixeira who told Sul Informação today that there is no cause for panic as the men are waiting for a delivery of some prefabricated fixtures.
"Everything is proceeding on time and this week there again will be a lot of people working," assured Teixeira.
Steven Sousa Piedade went public today to express his concern that the work had stopped, "This suspension will cause the delay of the completion of the work and create serious difficulties for traffic and the movement of people and goods during the critical summer season."
Faro Mayor Rogério Bacalhau also has asked what is going on and was given the same answer that the work is merely suspended, not halted.
Bacalhau was not best pleased. "I expressed my concern, given that the summer season is approaching. Last week, I sent a letter to Polis to ask if there was any effort forthcoming to first finish the work on the access road to the beach and any progress on the pedestrian and cycling lane," said the mayor, speaking to Sul Informação.
The mayor added that "a request had been made to cut off the road totally", which was not accepted by Faro Council.
Steven Sousa Piedade says that the constraints on traffic flow," which already has long delays for this time of year, will worsen substantially leading to a chaos in the coming months."
The work was expected to last seven months and had a completion date of July.
