The expansion of the metro's yellow line will provide more than 2.5km of transport accessible to all.
The investment has been awarded and sent to the Portuguese Court of Auditors. For some time, the metro fell victim to centralist bureaucrats. As an infrastructure component that is decisively relevant to the metropolitan area by fulfilling the requirements of eco-efficient mobility and connected transport, thereby improving quality of life and urban transport, the metro was excluded from Portugal's strategic EU-funded investments. This historical error was corrected by the prime minister, António Costa, and by the minister of environment and energy transition, João Pedro Matos Fernandes, who brought this investment back into the spotlight.
The importance of public transport in people's daily lives is clear: it facilitates mobility, rationalizes resources and decarbonizes cities.
Contracts were recently signed for the extension of the yellow line between Santo Ovídio and Vila d'Este.
In the case of Vila Nova de Gaia, a city with more than 300,000 inhabitants served by a single metro line, a commitment was made to expand the network. Working together, we managed to secure the yellow line to Manuel Leão, Santos Silva Hospital and Villa d'Este.
METRO - YELLOW
LINE EXPANSION
Source: metrodoporto.pt
This expansion adds a further 2.5km of transport accessible to all and with a considerable impact on everyone's daily lives, making our city increasingly competitive on the metropolitan and domestic stage.
The public tenders were launched on 27 March 2019 and the contract was carried out between 2020 and 2023.
This expansion phase of Porto's metro includes the fundamental link between Devesas and Campo Alegre, via the VL8, with a dedicated bridge, leveraging sustainable mobility and increasing the value of the area. At the same time, this line creates a connection from Devesas to Santo Ovídio, allowing the yellow line to provide a direct connection to Boavista, essential to a true urban public transportation network.
The launch of the international competition of ideas for the bridge over the Douro River dedicated to this new line demonstrates the will to implement it.
Source: porto.pt
D. ANTÓNIO FRANCISCO
DOS SANTOS BRIDGE
It is important to design the development model of the riverside area and its potential as a result of the revitalization of the Douro riverbanks. The connection to transit routes, either to the other side of the river or to the existing local network, will contribute to intelligent development of the riverside area, protecting their identities but presenting them with new challenges.
The construction of the D. António Francisco dos Santos Bridge, between the coastal avenue of Porto and the Areinho de Gaia quay, is the first example of a fundamental project capable of redesigning the area's urban network and opening it up to new challenges. This potential is associated with one of the most extraordinary figures of our time, the Bishop of Porto, who left us prematurely.
The partnership between the Municipalities of Gaia and Porto, launched on 12 April 2018, independent of external financing, considers this fundamental work a priority.
The important renovation of General Torres Station has been completed. On the one hand, it is one of the main transport interfaces, offering a link between the train (north line) and metro (Avenida da República). On the other hand, the station did not even meet minimal accessibility conditions for people with reduced mobility or motor disabilities.
The renovation included the installation of lifts and the improvement of the general conditions of the station, in a partnership between Câmara de Gaia, Infraestruturas de Portugal and Metro do Porto, each contributing €145,000. The renovated station was inaugurated in November 2018.
GENERAL TORRES
STATION
Source: cm-gaia.pt
Source: cm-gaia.pt
PRAÇA
The creation of a new, modern building to provide administrative and financial support to the municipality, offering a wide range of municipal and other services, had become a priority, given the small size of the current building and decentralized attendance services.
This construction was an opportunity to create a new event and leisure centre, in the form of a large plaza, capable of creating a true civic centre to serve Vila Nova de Gaia.
Praça was inaugurated by the prime minister, António Costa, on 23 June 2018. The new municipal service building opened to the public on 26 March 2019.
The revitalization of the Beira-Rio Market and Gaia's riverside esplanade was promoted as an effort to attract tourism, but above all as another secure, modern space of leisure and enjoyment for residents in Gaia. It safeguards Gaia's identity, but does not ignore the new challenges posed by the current reality.
The municipality decided to limit the riverfront to pedestrian traffic, returning the city to the people. In order to avoid prejudicing the local population, especially the elderly, a free shuttle-on-demand service was set up, with an electric vehicle providing transport between the historic centre and bus stops at the passengers' request. This service has been in operation since 26 July 2018.
For about a year, we promoted the phased improvement of the avenues Diogo Leite and Ramos Pinto. The final phase was completed in June 2018. The project involved improving the pavement, redesigning the parking bays and installing new LED lighting.
BEIRA-RIO
MARKET
Source: cm-gaia.pt
Gaia's riverside area has thus been redesigned with the transformation of these two avenues into a public thoroughfare, which has created better conditions for a public plaza and pedestrian traffic, as well as with the enjoyment of the many esplanades along this area.
It has also benefited greatly from the elimination of vehicular traffic and the conversion to a pedestrian zone.
DEVESAS CERAMIC
FACTORY AND FOUNDRY
The city council acquired the Devesas ceramic factory and foundry plot, with an area of 13,500m2. It is destined to become a new hub of cultural development, leisure and public enjoyment. Plans include a Museum of the City, along with a focus on environmental issues, which increases its touristic and cultural value as a heritage site (about 30% of the constructive capacity), with a conference room and public leisure area. This proposal was endorsed by the Portuguese Court of Auditors on 4 June 2018. The international public design tender was launched in May 2020.
Its location near the new Devesas metro interface and on the extension line of the Civic Centre of Gaia makes it extraordinarily important for the city's future.
At the same time, the heavy urbanization planned since 2010 (approved in 2005 and with a building permit issued in 2010) is being phased out.
The new project also involves the construction of an underground public car park, supporting the vehicular traffic that flow into the city centre and preparing infrastructure for the next public transport interface, which will connect Devesas to Campo Alegre.
In April 2017, the City Council of Gaia and the University of Porto (owner of the space) signed a protocol to revitalize the space, with an investment of around €220,000, a potential candidate for Portugal 2020.
Source: jpn.up.pt
Vila Nova de Gaia will have a hotel with 160 rooms and 111 apartments, a 100-meter high building that will be “the tallest in Portugal” and will cost 150 million euros, the promoter said this Friday.
In a reply sent to the Lusa agency, Fortera Properties described that the Skyline project, designed for the General Torres area, should “directly create at least 500 jobs”.
This is a hotel integrated in the project of the future Congress Center of Vila Nova de Gaia, in the district of Porto.
With an initial cost of 120 million euros, the Fortera project, which operates in the luxury real estate sector, was revised upwards to 150 million euros due to “necessary changes to the project and significant increases in the construction sector”, reads if in the reply to Lusa.
The Skyline tower will have 28 floors, 160 hotel rooms and 111 serviced apartments, a terrace, a swimming pool described as “infinite”, a health club, bar, two restaurants and panoramic views.
The project will start with the public car park and “the square of the Congress Center which is, of course, the catalyst for this mixed-use development”, describes the promoter. “It will have an impact on the entire North region”, consider those responsible.
SKYLINE TOWER E
CONGRESS CENTER
Source:Público
The start of the project is scheduled for next year, and is still subject to analysis by the Technical Department of the Vila Nova de Gaia Chamber.
The construction of the project is expected to be completed in three years.
This hotel is one of the parts of the future Centro de Congressos de Gaia, a project for around 2500 delegates that, according to what was revealed by the president of the local authority in July 2020, will be designed by the architect Eduardo Souto de Moura.
At issue is equipment whose execution model implies that the Chamber allows the private developer to build and manage a residential area, a hotel and a commercial area.
GAIA MUSEUM-ENVIRONMENT
Among the 53 proposals submitted to the competition for the design of the architectural project of the Gaia Museu-Ambiente, which will be born on the site of the former Fábrica de Cerâmica das Devesas, in a total area of 13,500 square meters, the proposal by the company VASSCO and the project that came out of the drawing board by architect Pedro Lagrifa Oliveira.
The construction will take about two years and the “preliminary estimate” of investment is “in the order of eight million [euros] for the museum and surrounding area”, already informed Eduardo Vítor Rodrigues, mayor of Gaia.
Then follows the deadline for the presentation of specialty projects and 120 days to prepare the execution project that will go to an international public tender, whose estimated duration is nine months.
The objective is “to rehabilitate strategic points in the center with heritage, landscape, architectural and cultural value”, as well as “to create a new historical center and tourist attraction”, preserving “the characteristics and memory of the place and opening the doors to the city”. ”.
The project, with an open façade to Rua Conselheiro Veloso da Cruz, suggests the terraces of the Douro Vinhateiro and opens a wide landscape window.
Source: Ogaiense
The deadline for submitting proposals to the public tender for the design of the Casa da Música – Santo Ovídio line project, an investment of 299 million euros by Metro do Porto that is part of the Recovery and Resilience Plan, has ended.
Having received the proposals from the competitors – 11 -, the jury of the public tender will proceed to the analysis of the same and will present its evaluation report in due course to the Board of Directors of Metro do Porto. The base value of this tender is 4.8 million euros. The next objective is to launch the tender for the project in the first months of 2022.
The so-called second line of Gaia of Metro do Porto has the endorsement of the Ministry of the Environment and Climate Action and is one of the main works that the Portuguese government has included in the “bazooka” of the European Union. Under the terms of the plan aimed at accelerating the economic recovery, construction of this line will begin in 2023 and will be completed by the end of 2025.
The connection between the areas of Boavista and Campo Alegre, in Porto, and Santo Ovídio, in Gaia foresees the construction of a new bridge over the Douro River and is budgeted for a total of 299 million euros. With a length of six kilometers, it will have seven stations: Casa da Música, Campo Alegre, Arrábida, Candal, Rotunda VL8, Devesas and Soares dos Reis.
METRO LINE:
CASA DA MÚSICA - SANTO
OVÍDIO
Source:Porto Metro
The new line will create a direct connection and deflection with CP services at the Devesas train station, giving rise to a new modal interface in Gaia, in addition to providing Metro service to one of the most populous areas of the Metropolitan Area. from Porto. Among other advantages, it is also an investment that will relieve pressure on the Yellow Line (Hospital de São João/Santo Ovídio), the one with the highest levels of demand throughout the Metro network.
