Study on new access road to Port of Santos could be presented this month

A study to develop a new access road model for the Porto-Indústria Corridor, known as Copi, could be presented by Infra S.A. later this month. The project, proposed by the Cubatão city government, is designed to expand road access to the Port of Santos.

The timeline was given by Transport Minister George Santoro during a visit to the Port of Santos last Tuesday.

“Infra S.A.’s team set a deadline for the end of July. We are assessing whether the project is economically viable, as the area is quite complex from an environmental standpoint,” Santoro said.

If the analysis is favorable, the minister said the federal government will begin talks with the São Paulo state government. “If Infra S.A.’s position is positive, we will schedule a conversation with the São Paulo government.”

The project calls for a roughly 13.5-kilometer expressway directly linking the future third lane of the Imigrantes Highway to the Port of Santos, avoiding the need for cargo traffic to pass through the Anchieta and Cônego Domenico Rangoni highways. The proposal aims to remove part of the truck flow from urban areas and improve the movement of cargo.

Cubatão Mayor César Nascimento, of the PSD party, said the Porto-Indústria Corridor was created in response to the need to improve regional logistics, make access to the port and industrial areas more efficient, and reduce the impact of heavy truck traffic on urban mobility and quality of life.

According to Nascimento, the feasibility studies are an important step. He said the possibility of moving the issue forward to discussions with the state government shows a willingness to build joint solutions among different levels of government.

The mayor also said the city government remains in dialogue with the Transport Ministry and other institutions involved, providing information and technical support to advance the proposal.

Nascimento also defended including the project in Brazil’s National Logistics Plan, which could help secure future investments for its implementation.

The Porto-Indústria Corridor is being presented as a structural solution to reduce logistics bottlenecks ahead of the future third lane of the Imigrantes Highway and the expansion of operations at the Port of Santos. The proposal is intended to ease congestion on the Anchieta-Imigrantes highway system, improve truck access to the port and reduce the effects of heavy traffic in Cubatão.

In January, Nascimento presented the project to the São Paulo state government. Copi would have two traffic lanes, a shoulder, an average travel time of about 10 minutes and capacity for up to 20,000 vehicles per day.

The project has already been presented to the São Paulo State Environmental Council, known as Consema, and to the Port Authority Council, or CAP. The state government said it would review the proposal.

Image generated by artificial intelligence.

Source: A Tribuna

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