Algarve Tourism and the region’s councils are keen to attract cyclists, especially in the low season, but there are still security concerns about the roads, according to a warning issued today by the Portuguese Federation of Cyclists.
According to data provided by the GNR, two bicyclists have been killed in the last six months, both on the EN125. One died on a section of road between Faro and Olhã just two weeks ago adding to a total of 20 serious road accidents involving cyclists in the past year.
"We can not attract more cyclists because the routes lack safe conditions," said José Caetano, president of the federation, which has 35,000 members, stressing that there has been a start to improve safety conditions on the roads, but a weal start.
According to Caetano, another problem is the lack of supervision by the authorities in relation to the new Highway Code rules, which, among other measures to protect cyclists, stipulate that drivers must maintain a distance of at least 1.5 meters when passing cyclists.
"Tourists think that in this country, specifically in relation to the EN125, cycling is like playing Russian roulette," noted Caetano, adding that he receives many complaints from cyclists, especially regarding the EN125, in which they point out that vehicle drivers do not adhere to safety distance rule.
Road company Rotas do Algarve Litoral, the sub-concessionaire responsible for the redevelopment of the EN125, said that under the contract it is improving road safety, but no new cycle lanes have been ordered.
Some Algarve councils are better than others at providing safe environments for cyclists and walkers, such as in Vilamoura which is connected by a network of cycle paths, and in São Brás de Alportel which in January opened a network of accessible walks covering 5.2 kilometres.
According to the president of the Algarve Tourism Board, Desidério Silva, the Algarve has over 50 cycle routes and a further 44 have been "identified for construction."
Even Silva agrees that the EN125 is a “dangerous road” and certainly no place for cyclists and advises them to stick to the smaller roads of the interior of the Algarve.
Between Olhão and Faro there is a project to construct an eight kilometre bike path to the south of the EN125 through the Ria Formosa Natural park. This partly will make up for Olhão’s lack of effort when the Ecovoia route was launched in 2006.
Olhão Mayor, António Pina, said the new bike path will be built at the same time as the new Águas do Algarve wastewater treatment plant, due to be completed sometime in 2018, according to optimistic guesses.
The Intermunicipal Community of the Algarve – AMAL - launched the Ecovia project to link bike paths across the Algarve region, but only small sections were constructed a decade ago, leaving bewildered cyclists to face dense traffic, poor signage, obstructions and danger of being run over.
A Development Plan for Algarve Cycling & Walking 2016/19 was launched in March this year after airports operator ANA commissioned a report into seasonal tourism.
The Secretary of State for Tourism Ana Mendes Godinho claimed that essential upgrade work on cycle paths will be completed by the end of summer 2016 and a schedule of improvements will be made over the next three years to enable the Algarve to become a walking and cycling destination in the cooler, off season months.
The new plan, said Godinho, needs to go beyond a mere protocol, "I do not believe in agreements which do not leave the desk," confident that the cycling and walking plan will not fail - despite no budget having been allocated.
"In this plan, there are 35 concrete actions with a budget and well-defined timings. I will be behind the project coordinator every day to see what is happening."
With no new cycle lanes scheduled to be built, it seems Godinho’s ‘concrete actions’ exclude a safe environment for cyclists to get from A to B.
