PRR: António Costa and Pedro Nuno Santos present Infraestruturas de Portugal road plan worth €520 million

Gareth J. Hargreaves • August 18, 2026 03:31

At Infraestruturas de Portugal’s headquarters in Pragal (Almada), the Prime Minister, António Costa, alongside the Minister for Infrastructure and Housing, Pedro Nuno Santos, set out the infrastructure strand of the Recovery and Resilience Plan (PRR), which will lead to the building of new roads and the upgrading of others.

PRR infrastructure funding: €520 million to deliver by 2026

From the total €45 billion that Portugal is due to receive from the “European bazooka” - the nickname given to the EU Recovery Fund - €520 million is earmarked for infrastructure. That allocation must be turned into completed projects by 2026, a tight delivery timetable set in Brussels.

In the Prime Minister’s own words: “We have less time than usual. We have financial commitments taken on up to 2023 and all the work has to be completed in 2026, otherwise we will not receive those resources”.

Betting on tarmac

Despite pushback from the European Commission, which wants national plans to place particular emphasis on environmental issues and the energy transition, Portugal’s PRR clearly places strong weight on tarmac, through both new road construction and the refurbishment of existing routes. Even with the spotlight on asphalt, António Costa said that, within the wider European funding framework, the country’s biggest bet will be on rail.

According to António Costa, the newly announced road works are intended to “decarbonise urban centres”. Most of the interventions span only a few kilometres, “but they radically transform the territory”, with the only major project being the route linking Beja to Sines (strengthening connections to the terminal, port and rail).

Pedro Nuno Santos also underlined that the main aim is to remove “vehicles from urban areas or direct them into high-capacity corridors” and, by doing so, “increase the capacity and safety of stretches of road with high levels of congestion and a degraded level of service - such as the EN14, where average daily traffic is approaching 22 000 vehicles per day, or the link to Sines, where 11% of traffic volume is made up of heavy goods vehicles”.

How Infraestruturas de Portugal groups the PRR road investment

António Laranjo, the president of Infraestruturas de Portugal (IP), outlined how IP’s work is organised into three investment groups, delivered in partnership with local authorities:

Missing Links and Network Capacity Increase, with planned investment of €313 million;
Cross-border connections, with investment of around €65 million;
Road access to Business Reception Areas, with investment in the region of €142 million.

New roads: where?

The construction of new roads and the upgrade of existing ones has been split across the three investment groups listed above: Missing Links and Network Capacity Increase, Cross-border connections, and Road access to Business Reception Areas.

Missing Links and Network Capacity Increase - CONSTRUCTION:

EN14. Maia (Via Diagonal) / Trofa Road–Rail Interface, promoting a modal shift to rail (Minho Line);
EN14. Trofa Road–Rail Interface / Santana, including a new bridge over the River Ave;
EN4. Atalaia bypass, enabling through-traffic to be taken out of this urban area;
IC35. Penafiel (EN15) / Rans;
IC35. Rans / Entre-os-Rios;
IP2. East bypass of Évora6;
Aveiro–Águeda road axis, creating a direct connection between Águeda and Aveiro and promoting a modal shift to maritime and rail transport;;
EN125. Olhão bypass, enabling through-traffic to be taken out of this urban area;
EN211 bypass - Quintã / Mesquinhata, promoting a modal shift to rail (Douro Line);

Missing Links and Network Capacity Increase - UPGRADING:

EN344. km 67+800 to km 75+520 - Pampilhosa da Serra;
IC2 (EN1). Meirinhas (km 136,700) / Pombal (km 148,500);
IP8 (A26). Capacity increase on the link between Sines and the A2.

Missing Links and Network Capacity Increase - CONSTRUCTION AND UPGRADING:

Link from Baião to Ponte de Ermida (approximately 50% new road construction) [13];
IP8 (EN121). Ferreira do Alentejo / Beja, including the Beringel bypass (only the Beringel bypass, representing 16% of the alignment, is a newly built section);
IP8 (EN259). Santa Margarida do Sado / Ferreira do Alentejo, including the Figueira de Cavaleiros bypass (only the Figueira de Cavaleiros bypass, representing 18% of the alignment, is a newly built section).

Cross-border connections - CONSTRUCTION:

International bridge over the River Sever;
Alcoutim–Saluncar de Guadiana (ES) bridge.

Cross-border connections - CONSTRUCTION AND UPGRADING:

EN103. Vinhais / Bragança (bypasses), where the bypasses, as newly built sections, account for only 16% of the route to be intervened on;
Link from Bragança to Puebla de Sanabria (ES), with only 0,5% new road construction.

Road access to Business Reception Areas - CONSTRUCTION:

Link from the A8 to the Palhagueiras Business Area in Torres Vedras;
Link from the Cabeça de Porca Industrial Zone (Felgueiras) to the A11;
Improved access to the Lavagueiras Business Location Area (Castelo de Paiva);
Improved access to the Campo Maior Industrial Zone;
EN248 bypass (Arruda dos Vinhos);
Aljustrel bypass - improved access to the mining extraction zone and the Business Location Area;
Tâmega Road - EN210 bypass (Celorico de Basto;
Link from the Casarão Business Park to the IC2;
New crossing of the River Lima between EN203-Deocriste and EN202-Nogueira;
Access to Avepark - Taipas Science and Technology Park (Guimarães);
Road access from the Vale do Neiva industrial area to the A28 junction.

Road access to Business Reception Areas - UPGRADING:

Link to Mundão Industrial Park - removal of constraints on the EN229 Viseu / Sátão;
Access to the Riachos Industrial Zone;
Access from the Camporês Business Park to the IC8 (Ansião);
EN10-4. Setúbal / Mitrena;
Link to the Fontiscos Industrial Area and redesign of the Ermida junction (Santo Tirso);
Link from the Rio Maior Industrial Zone to the EN114;
Roundabout on the EN246 to access the Portalegre industrial zone.

Road access to Business Reception Areas - CONSTRUCTION AND UPGRADING: