Documents reviewed today indicate that changes are proposed for a major infrastructure project in Vila Nova de Gaia, to be voted on at an extraordinary city council meeting scheduled for this Thursday at 4:00 PM, followed by a municipal assembly at 9:00 PM of the same day. This involves alterations from the original plan.
Specifically regarding the station, “a change in the previously planned location—Santo Ovídio—is proposed, moving the station about 2km to the south.” This adjustment deviates from the initial studies by IP that formed the competition’s basis.
“The proposed new location for the Vila Nova de Gaia station is between Rua da Junqueira de Cima (north and west), Rua e Travessa do Guardal de Cima (south), and Travessa de Belo Horizonte (east),” situated in the São Caetano area of Vilar do Paraíso.
In addition to a collection of road accesses to be constructed, the proposal includes “extending the Rubi line from Santo Ovídio to the High-Speed Station (west side),” with costs shared between the consortium (for major construction) and Metro do Porto (for line installation and equipment).
“Regarding the extension of the Rubi Line from Santo Ovídio Station, it is important to note the high density and overlap of infrastructures in this area, making this work quite complex, requiring the diversion of road access to the west over a landscaped embankment, potentially causing a negative impact due to its proximity to existing residential buildings,” it is stated.
Municipal services also note that even if the station is removed from Santo Ovídio, between the current Santo Ovídio and D. João II metro stations, “the municipality should continue the Detailed Plan being developed for the area.”
For the Douro River crossing, “the solution now presented again separates the railway and road modes into two distinct bridges,” according to municipal documents.
This choice is supported by the consortium due to a “need to reduce financing risk, minimize the risk of deadline non-compliance, and clearly separate future maintenance responsibilities for each of the bridges.”
The consortium’s proposal also suggests less tunnel construction. In the initial Preliminary Study, most of the line in the Vila Nova de Gaia county was planned to be underground, minimizing surface impact, with 9.2 of the total 12 kilometers underground.
However, the consortium’s proposed alteration envisages 3,494 meters of mining tunnels, 1,666 meters of ‘cut & cover’ tunnels, 940 meters in embankments, 5,264 meters in excavation, and 1,524 meters in walls.
“Comparing the two solutions, there is a threefold increase in surface impact, shifting from the previous 2,540 meters of planned embankment, excavation, and wall line to 7,728 meters in this newly proposed extension,” as per the documents.
The new plan “contrasts with already established residential and industrial zones, existing fabrics, and current road networks, requiring a diverse set of road reinstatement solutions to minimize the impact of the territorial barrier created, which is more extensive in this solution,” the documents note.
“The impact is not limited to the infrastructure’s linear extension but also extends to the adjoining area,” necessitating “expropriations and demolitions in intervention areas, both for the actual implementation of the high-speed line and for dimensional requirements of construction work areas.”
