Braga: IP awards Infias junction works to ABB for €11.3 million over 660 days

The redevelopment works at the Infias junction, one of Braga’s main road congestion hotspots, were formally awarded on Thursday by Infraestruturas de Portugal (IP) to ABB, following the public tender process.

Contract value and delivery timetable for the Infias junction works

The scheme is valued at around €11.3 million and has an execution period of almost two years (660 days). The works will be carried out in phases.

In a statement, Braga City Council says this step “marks the start of one of the most important road interventions of recent decades” in the municipality. The council adds that the project “starts immediately, although the first tasks will have a limited impact on traffic”. It also stresses that, “after years of waiting, successive steps forwards and backwards, and a long period of uncertainty, the Infias junction project has finally moved into the construction phase”.

Quoted in the same statement, the Mayor of Braga, João Rodrigues, says the award represents the move “from plans to works”. “For far too long, the Infias junction has been synonymous with waiting. From today, it becomes synonymous with works,” the mayor said.

Objectives of the Infias junction redevelopment in Braga

According to João Rodrigues, the project will increase capacity on one of the city’s key access points, improve road safety and separate the main traffic movements. He says it fits into a wider mobility strategy that also includes Braga’s future outer ring road.

“This is, most likely, the most important road intervention carried out in Braga in recent decades. It will not, on its own, solve every mobility challenge in the municipality, but it will remove one of the main bottlenecks in our road network and significantly improve traffic flow,” João Rodrigues emphasised.

Minimising disruption

The council states that the initial works will have a reduced effect on vehicle circulation, with more significant constraints expected in later phases. “As the contract progresses, there will be more demanding phases, with unavoidable restrictions in one of the city’s highest-traffic areas,” says Braga City Council.

The municipality says it “has been working in close coordination with IP and the company responsible for the works to prepare a set of measures aimed at reducing, as far as possible, the impacts on the city’s mobility”.

Braga City Council also notes that, whenever technical conditions allow, the most disruptive activities will be carried out at night.

To that end, the authority will put in place a project monitoring plan, including temporary traffic diversions, enhanced signage, the creation of a Transportes Urbanos de Braga (TUB) interchange near the Municipal Stadium, and resurfacing works around the Infias Health Centre, Rua Conselheiro Bento Miguel, Rua de São José and Avenida General Norton de Matos.

“This project will require an effort of adaptation from those who live, work or travel in Braga. That understanding will be essential so that, in less than two years, we can all benefit from a city with more efficient, safer mobility and better prepared for the future,” João Rodrigues concluded.