PRR: António Costa and Pedro Nuno Santos present Infraestruturas de Portugal road plans

James H. Amos • August 18, 2026 13:36

At the headquarters of Infraestruturas de Portugal in Pragal (Almada), Prime Minister António Costa, alongside the Minister for Infrastructure and Housing, Pedro Nuno Santos, set out the Recovery and Resilience Plan (PRR) for infrastructure, which will translate into the construction of new roads and the upgrading of existing routes.

From the overall 45 billion euros that Portugal will receive from the so-called “European bazooka”-the name by which the EU Recovery Fund has become known-520 million euros are earmarked for infrastructure. That funding must be turned into completed works by 2026, a tight delivery deadline set by Brussels.

In the Prime Minister’s own words: “We have less time than usual. We have financial commitments assumed up to 2023 and all the work has to be executed in 2026 otherwise we will not receive those resources”.

PRR timetable and funding for transport infrastructure

The PRR envelope for infrastructure is therefore framed by two hard milestones: financial commitments up to 2023, and full execution by 2026. Within that calendar, the measures announced focus on road building and road upgrading, even as the Government also points to rail investment as the largest national priority within the wider European funding package.

A focus on tarmac in the PRR

Despite pushback from the European Commission-which wants national plans to place particular emphasis on environmental issues and the energy transition-the national PRR reveals a strong tilt towards tarmac, combining new road schemes with the refurbishment of other roads. Even with asphalt taking centre stage in this set of projects, António Costa argues that, overall, the biggest national bet under European financing will be on the railway.

According to António Costa, the new road works being announced are intended to “decarbonise urban centres”. Most interventions will be only a few kilometres long, “but they radically transform the territory”, with the only major scheme being the route linking Beja to Sines (improving connections to the terminal, port and railway).

Pedro Nuno Santos also underlined that the main aim is to remove “vehicles from urban areas or channel them into high-capacity corridors” and, by doing so, “increase the capacity and safety of road sections with a high degree of congestion and a degraded level of service-such as the EN14, where average daily traffic is close to 22 000 vehicles per day, or the link to Sines, where 11% of traffic volume corresponds to heavy goods vehicles”.

How Infraestruturas de Portugal will invest the PRR funds

António Laranjo, President of Infraestruturas de Portugal (IP), outlined how IP’s work is organised into three investment groups, delivered in conjunction with local authorities:

Missing Links and Network Capacity Increase, with a planned investment of 313 million euros;
Cross-border connections, with an investment of around 65 million euros;
Road access to Business Hosting Areas, with investment in the region of 142 million euros.

New roads: where will they be built?

The construction of new roads and the upgrading of existing ones has been split across the three investment groups already mentioned: Missing Links and Network Capacity Increase, Cross-border connections, and Road access to Business Hosting Areas.

Missing Links and Network Capacity Increase - CONSTRUCTION:

EN14: Maia (Diagonal Road) / Trofa road-rail interchange, promoting modal shift to rail (Minho Line);
EN14: Trofa road-rail interchange / Santana, including a new bridge over the River Ave;
EN4: Atalaia bypass, enabling through-traffic to be removed from this urban area;
IC35: Penafiel (EN15) / Rans;
IC35: Rans / Entre-os Rios;
IP2: eastern bypass of Évora6;
Aveiro–Águeda road axis, providing a direct link between Águeda and Aveiro and promoting modal shift to maritime and rail transport;;
EN125: Olhão bypass, enabling through-traffic to be removed from this urban area;
EN211 bypass – Quintã / Mesquinhata, promoting modal shift to rail (Douro Line);

Missing Links and Network Capacity Increase - UPGRADING:

EN344: km 67+800 to km 75+520 – Pampilhosa da Serra;
IC2 (EN1): Meirinhas (km 136,700) / Pombal (km 148,500);
IP8 (A26): capacity increase on the link between Sines and the A2.

Missing Links and Network Capacity Increase - CONSTRUCTION AND UPGRADING:

Link from Baião to Ponte de Ermida (approximately 50% new road construction) [13];
IP8 (EN121): Ferreira do Alentejo / Beja, including the Beringel bypass (only the Beringel bypass, corresponding to 16% of the alignment, is the construction of a new section);
IP8 (EN259): Santa Margarida do Sado / Ferreira do Alentejo, including the Figueira de Cavaleiros bypass (only the Figueira de Cavaleiros bypass, corresponding to 18% of the alignment, is the construction of a new section).

Cross-border connections - CONSTRUCTION:

International bridge over the River Sever;
Alcoutim–Saluncar de Guadiana bridge (ES).

Cross-border connections - CONSTRUCTION AND UPGRADING:

EN103: Vinhais / Bragança (bypasses), in which the bypasses, as new road sections, represent only 16% of the alignment to be intervened;
Link from Bragança to Puebla de Sanabria (ES), with only 0,5% new road construction.

Road access to Business Hosting Areas - CONSTRUCTION:

Link from the A8 to the Palhagueiras Business Area in Torres Vedras;
Link from the Cabeça de Porca Industrial Estate (Felgueiras) to the A11;
Improved access to the Lavagueiras Business Location Area (Castelo de Paiva);
Improved access to the Campo Maior Industrial Estate;
EN248 bypass (Arruda dos Vinhos);
Aljustrel bypass – improved access to the mining extraction area and the Business Location Area;
Tâmega Road – EN210 bypass (Celorico de Basto;
Link from the Casarão Business Park to the IC2;
New crossing of the River Lima between EN203-Deocriste and EN202-Nogueira;
Access to Avepark – Taipas Science and Technology Park (Guimarães);
Road access from the Vale do Neiva industrial area to the A28 junction.

Road access to Business Hosting Areas - UPGRADING:

Link to the Mundão Industrial Park – removal of bottlenecks on EN229 Viseu / Sátão;
Access to the Riachos Industrial Estate;
Access from the Camporês Business Park to the IC8 (Ansião);
EN10-4: Setúbal / Mitrena;
Link to the Fontiscos Industrial Area and remodelling of the Ermida junction (Santo Tirso);
Link from the Rio Maior Industrial Estate to the EN114;
Roundabout on the EN246 providing access to the Portalegre industrial area.

Road access to Business Hosting Areas - CONSTRUCTION AND UPGRADING: