Truck congestion woes extend to Port of Santos left and right banks

The recurrent truck congestion woes around the Port of Santos, made worse by the current record grain harvest, have exposed bottlenecks in accessing the Right Bank, especially in Alemoa, Santos. However, the situation extends to the port’s Left Bank in Guarujá. While truck drivers face daily complications, the authorities are attempting to resolve long-standing problems.

“Unfortunately, the infrastructure on the Left Bank is inadequate, much like the access roads to the container and grain terminals. There are potholes, robberies, and long queues, not unlike what occurs on the Right Bank,” says Luciano Carvalho, President of the Union of Independent Road Cargo Transporters of Baixada Santista and Vale do Ribeira (Sindicam).

Carvalho notes that the roads leading to the Left Bank are good, but he criticizes the condition of the access roads used by vehicles leaving the highway. Additionally, there’s a lack of security for truck drivers. They face daily robberies on the highway due to being stationary while waiting to enter the terminals. Carvalho emphasizes the need for a regulating yard in Planalto Paulista to accommodate professionals until they need to load or unload when descending the Serra to the Port.

“All authorities need to work together. It’s complicated, and the situation is likely to worsen,” he states.

The chart that follows gives further details on exports and imports in containers at the Port of Santos between January 2019 and July 2023. The data used below was gathered by Datamar using the DataLiner maritime intelligence tool.

Exports & imports at Port of Santos | Jan 2019 – July 2023 | TEU

Source: DataLiner (click here to request a demo)

In response, the Port Authority of Santos (APS) stated that the Left Bank of the port complex has two accesses: one to the terminals on Ilha Barnabé and the other is Idalino Piñez Street, popularly known as Rua do Adubo [Manure Street], which connects to Avenida Perimetral. The maintenance of the former is the responsibility of APS, which has a contract with a third-party company for pavement restoration. Rua do Adubo, on the other hand, falls under the jurisdiction of the Guarujá Municipality.

“APS has approved a new functional project for the works on the access road on the Left Bank, with funding for its execution included in the new Growth Acceleration Program (PAC) of the Federal Government. The project is in the environmental licensing phase,” the statement concludes.

In an interview in early August, the Municipal Secretary of Economic and Port Development, Adalberto Ferreira da Silva, revealed that APS was making minor adjustments to improve the geometric design of the second phase of the highway, specifically in one of the ramps designed for access from Rodovia Cônego Domenico Rangoni to the Port (Guarujá-São Paulo direction), near the Morrinhos Interchange.

“The plan is to start the implementation of the entire complex in 2024. The design includes interventions and walkways to segregate flows and ensure accessibility. We are closely monitoring the progress,” he said at the time.

The main route used by trucks to access the Port is Rua do Adubo. Crossing a major traffic axis, this road sometimes leads to disobedience of traffic signals by truck drivers seeking alternative routes, causing disruptions that can last for several minutes and disconnect the District from the central area.

“This needs to be definitively resolved and will only be solved with the completion of the second phase of Avenida Perimetral. This way, we will have flow segregation, allowing better access to the Port and ensuring continuous traffic flow,” Silva emphasized on Tuesday.

Silva also explains that the roads leading to the left bank of the Port are generally in reasonably good condition. Heavy cargo affects the road surface, requiring more frequent maintenance, but overall, the pavement is in good condition. “The major problem really occurs during the harvests due to the number of cargo vehicles heading to the Port, and because they don’t have exclusive access, they share space and cross local traffic routes.”

Regarding the pavement conditions on Avenida Perimetral, the Secretary doesn’t deny that there are some problems caused by drainage issues, but these are considered superficial. “For this reason, the movement of heavy cargo ends up causing damages that also affect the drainage system, which requires constant maintenance.”

Source: A Tribuna

To read the original news piece, visit: https://www.atribuna.com.br/noticias/portomar/nao-e-so-na-alemoa-problemas-no-acesso-de-caminhoes-ao-porto-de-santos-se-repetem-em-guaruja

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