Roadworks in the Algarve. Yes folks! ROADWORKS.

Not just in the U.K on a bank holiday weekend does this problem exist. Here in the Algarve we have had traffic issues ever since the introduction of Tolls on the A22 back on December 8th 2011. Yes I remember the exact date, how sad is that.

So, with the A22 becoming a toll road more and more locals went back to the old and notorious EN125. Formerly known as the road of death and most dangerous road in Europe at certain times.

Although surrounded by negativity and demonstrations this did actually bring some good points. Roadside shops that had been closed for years suddenly began to reopen due to better potential footfall from passing vehicles, even petrol stations got a facelift.

Sadly, the little bit of positivity did not last. The dreaded roadworks started to appear. What once took an hour to drive from lets say Portimao to Faro suddenly became a 1 hour 45 minute drive. Then added to that was the bridge repairs in Portimao, and a 15 minute journey from Portimao to Lagoa (all of 10-15 kms) became a 1 hour journey depending on which time of day you did it.

With all this chaos going on and the summer approaching which will only make the situation 10 times worse the local political party PSD/Algarve has decided to petition the government for a temporary ceasing of having to pay tolls until the work is complete. This is despite the EU deeming the Tolls unlawful as far back as February 2015 which seems to have been forgotten.

Do we think the government will listen? I severely doubt it. The government in place are the guys who last year proposed that the toll on the A22 be decreased by 50%. And guess what, since they came into power the price remains exactly the same. Go figure!

I personally am torn between quashing the tolls or not. Would it make transfer prices cheaper? Yes it 100% would. However since the tolls have been introduced I can hand on heart say I have never been stuck in a traffic jam on the A22. So on that basis it makes things a hell of a lot more reliable for the paying customer who has booked their private transfer (Hopefully with Algarve365). However I certainly think reducing the tolls by 50% would be a fair compromise for all concerned.

Anyway, until my next little rant is written this is Pete saying over n out 🙂