The municipalities of the Intermunicipal Community of the Leiria Region are developing a document that guarantees exemption from tolls on the A8 and A19, taking into account the damage to alternative routes. According to the president of the Intermunicipal Community (CIM) of the Leiria Region, Jorge Vala, “there are still many fallen slopes” and national roads are no alternative.
The mayor highlights the constraints of National Road 242 (Marinha Grande-Leiria), and Complementary Itinerary (IC) 2 (Porto de Mós, Batalha and Leiria), where interventions are underway to stabilize slopes, replace pavements and clean up forestry waste. “Infraestruturas de Portugal has already told us that the situation will only be restored at the end of June. It is up to us to guarantee a solution for citizens, workers and companies, that’s why we are working on the exemption”, said the mayor of Porto de Mós, who announced a meeting on Tuesday with the CIM municipalities.
The first executive secretary of the CIM, Paulo Batista Santos, explained that the military who have been providing support to the affected municipalities in the region do not have a Via Verde identifier and have already questioned the payment of the toll, which the CIM took over, providing equipment. The document being prepared requires residents and companies to send toll bills to CIM, which will refund the amounts paid.explained Paulo Batista Santos.
“We are working to exempt tolls on highway 8 (A8) between the industrial areas of Marinha Grande and Pousos [Leiria] and on highway 19″, between the Azoia interchange and the São Jorge interchange, he added. For the first executive secretary of the CIM, it is “it is incomprehensible that the Government does not assume these values, taking into account the lack of mobility in the region, which will affect the budgets of local authorities, so that they can help citizens and companies”. The values of the A19 are around 700 thousand euros, with the largest share going to the A8, which could exceed 2.5 million.
In the proposed intermunicipal regulation, which provides for an exceptional and temporary compensation regime for the payment of toll fees, it is written that the exemption refers to “toll fees charged on certain sections of motorways located in the area of the Intermunicipal Community of the Leiria Region, affected by storm Kristin, in force until June 30, 2026”. According to the document, the financial impact resulting from the application of this regime is jointly borne by the municipalities of the CIM of Leiriaby the concessionaires holding toll revenue on the identified sections and by the State.
Not Saturday, the CIM of Leiria sent a letter to the President of the Republic requesting the extension of the exceptional regime and temporary exemption from paying toll fees on the main highways serving the territory. The CIM of the Leiria Region is made up of the municipalities of Leiria, Marinha Grande, Batalha, Pombal, Porto de Mós, Alvaiázere, Ansião, Pedrógão Grande, Figueiró dos Vinhos and Castanheira de Pera.
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