Heavy vehicle ban reduces traffic on porto Ring Road

Infrastructure Minister Miguel Pinto Luz reported that a new ban on heavy vehicles has reduced heavy traffic on the Via de Cintura Interna (VCI) in Porto, Portugal.

The restriction applies to heavy vehicles that are not traveling to the cities of Porto or Vila Nova de Gaia between 07:00 and 21:00 on weekdays. The ban, which started on September 15, led to a 30% decrease in heavy vehicles on the VCI.

It also caused a 60% reduction of these vehicles on the Arrábida Bridge and removed approximately 3,500 heavy vehicles from the Douro River crossings, which include the Arrábida Bridge and the Freixo Bridge. To provide an alternative, the Circular Regional Exterior do Porto (CREP)/A41 has remained toll-free since the start of the year. Infrastructure of Portugal (IP) plans to launch tenders in January for improvements to the VCI, specifically targeting certain interchanges.

The Porto municipality and IP also signed cooperation protocols to manage the VCI, study new circular roads, and requalify the EN 12 road.