Third Lane of Rodovia dos Imigrantes to Connect with Rodoanel and Cônego Highway

The third lane of the Rodovia dos Imigrantes will connect to the Rodoanel Mário Covas in the Planalto region and to the Rodovia Cônego Domênico Rangoni, near the Cubatão Industrial Hub in the Baixada Santista. This will increase the flow capacity for trucks and buses by 145% toward the São Paulo coast and both sides of the Port of Santos. The State Government disclosed the route on Thursday (9) to A Tribuna. All studies and the work’s functional, essential, and executive projects are the responsibility of Ecovias, the concessionaire of the Anchieta-Imigrantes System (SAI).

According to the project, detailed by the State Secretariat for Investment Partnerships (SPI), a 21.5-kilometer-long road will be built in the Serra section, with tunnels along 17 kilometers (80% of the route) and four kilometers of overpasses. One of the tunnels will be approximately six kilometers long, making it the largest structure of this type in Brazil. The new lane will have two traffic lanes and a shoulder that could be reversed into a traffic lane.

According to Governor Tarcísio de Freitas (Republicans), the third lane will begin at km 43 of the Rodovia dos Imigrantes, allowing access to the Rodoanel. In the Baixada region, the connection at km 265 of the Cônego highway, near the Cubatão industrial area, will enable fast access to both the Right and Left banks of the Port.

“The capacity of the Anchieta-Imigrantes system will increase by 25% overall and 145% for the descent of heavy vehicles. This project will meet the existing traffic demand but also address future needs for increased flow on the highway,” Freitas said.

The State Secretary for Investment Partnerships, Rafael Benini, emphasized that the highway will have an average slope of 4%, enabling the safe passage of heavy vehicles and parallel emergency tunnels.

“Considering the different traffic scenarios, the lane could be reversed to operate toward the Capital when necessary. To reduce environmental impacts, the construction will utilize existing service roads and minimize worksite entry points,” Benini explained.

Benini also noted that the selection of the connection points – in the Planalto section and the Baixada Santista – and the route were based on parameters adopted in the country’s most significant infrastructure projects. A multidisciplinary team of specialists from the concessionaire (Ecovias), consultants, and construction companies, including international ones, evaluated alternatives and chose the one that best met rigorous engineering, road safety, and socio-environmental criteria.

Project Phases

In January 2024, the SPI authorized Ecovias to develop all necessary studies to complete the project. After the route is announced, the company will begin the functional project and subsequently move on to the basic and executive projects, which will outline the construction techniques, timelines, and total cost.

Traffic studies will be conducted, including topographical assessments, boreholes, and geological and hydrogeological investigations.

According to the State, the necessary environmental licensing steps, including the environmental impact study and report (EIA-Rima), are being followed simultaneously. These stages are expected to be completed in the first half of 2026.

In May, the state government stated that the projected cost of the studies would be R$60 million and estimated the cost of the third lane to be R$6 billion, with execution expected to take four years. However, these values will be revised after the basic and executive projects are completed.

Road Traffic Flow

Recently, Anderson Pomini, president of the Port Authority of Santos (APS), mentioned that in 2023, of the 174 million tons handled at the Port of Santos, 97 million tons were transported by truck.

Currently, 60% of cargo transport is done by road at the Santos dock. By 2040, 119 million tons of cargo will be transported by highways, with a 55% increase in vehicles heading toward the port complex

Source: A Tribuna

Click here to read the original text: https://www.atribuna.com.br/noticias/portomar/terceira-pista-da-rodovia-dos-imigrantes-tera-conex-o-com-rodoanel-e-conego-1.447051

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