“It is important to clarify. Legal, juridical. That is not my role. My role is political. At that time, when the proposal comes, which I am unaware of (…), we will analyze it from a political point of view, from a legal point of view, and from a juridical point of view, because it is indeed important,” Miguel Pinto Luz said today to journalists in Maia (Porto district).
The Minister of Infrastructure and Housing was responding to a question about the high-speed project plan mentioning the existence of a bridge over the Douro River and the Gaia station in Santo Ovídio, while the AVAN Norte consortium (Mota-Engil, Teixeira Duarte, Alves Ribeiro, Casais, Conduril, and Gabriel Couto) intends to propose a station south of Santo Ovídio and two bridges instead of a single road-rail bridge.
Miguel Pinto Luz spoke on the sidelines of a management agreement signing between Infraestruturas de Portugal (IP) and the Maia City Council to manage a section of National Road 14.
When questioned about the consortium’s intention to propose alternative solutions, he said that “the Government was not aware of it.”
“What I heard is that [the consortium] intends to do so. When they present it, the Government, at that time, will comment on this proposal. We are not going to anticipate or engage in public discussions about a solution that I do not know,” stressed Miguel Pinto Luz.
The official emphasized that “the project plan outlined a set of solutions but allowed consortia that might win to optimize the solutions” and “did not close off the solutions.”
“Even so, the contract that was signed and which IP signed is based on a specific solution. If the consortium now – and I am unaware, I do not comment on news – intends to present it, at that time Infraestruturas de Portugal will conduct the evaluation,” he said.
Miguel Pinto Luz asserted that “it is not for the ministry” to undertake such a role, but rather “the political analysis of public policy options in terms of mobility, transport, and infrastructure,” and it is up to IP and its technicians, “rightly, to conduct the technical evaluation of the proposals that might be submitted.”
Also present on the occasion, IP’s president, Miguel Cruz, declined to answer questions on the topic.
The AVAN Norte consortium plans to propose a high-speed station in Gaia south of Santo Ovídio and two bridges over the Douro instead of one road-rail bridge, solutions differing from those in the project plan.
After the October 2024 project award, the consortium released a video in April featuring the Santo Ovídio station and a road-rail bridge, presenting an alternative solution not foreseen in the project plan, with the station in Vilar do Paraíso and two bridges instead of one.
On April 16, the Government assured that “any possible changes must be fully safeguarded legally, be in full compliance with the project plan requirements, and ensure the agreement of the municipalities,” recalling that the project “is based on the solution presented in the proposal by the LusoLav consortium, the winner of the competition, which was aligned with the preliminary design presented by IP,” featuring a station in Santo Ovídio and a connection to the Yellow Line of the Metro, and just one bridge.
The project plan mentions the Santo Ovídio station 17 times and includes a preliminary program for the construction of the underground station as well as an appendix with a map of its location.
The document establishing the concession limits states that the stations of Campanhã and Santo Ovídio “must be adjusted to meet the respective preliminary programs.”
