In a statement sent today to the Lusa agency, Metro do Porto states that the construction of the Rubi Line (Casa da Música - Santo Ovídio) "starts in force on one of the main road axes of Gaia", causing the Edgar Cardoso road to be "very restricted in the next two years".

After the start of the project in Santo Ovídio, which has already led to the demolition of houses for the construction of the metro station that will connect to the Yellow Line (D) and the future high-speed rail line, and of interventions in Devesas and other less impactful ones, "a new phase of the works starts on May 24, requiring a series of cuts and restrictions with impact on some roads in the city".

From Friday to Saturday, there will be a "cut of the left lane in the ascending direction of the Candal viaduct", and between Saturday and Sunday "road traffic on the Edgar Cardoso Roundabout will be suppressed -- on the Road with the same name, also known as VL8".

"This constraint will remain in force for a period of two years, with access to houses, garages, offices and establishments always being safeguarded", in an intervention "motivated by the construction of the metro channel along this structuring road" and "by the construction of three stations -- Arrábida, Candal and Rotunda -, the latter being uneven and having an underground car park".

According to Metro do Porto, "the works will generate restrictions along the entire Via Edgar Cardoso, between the Coimbrões area and the Arrábida junction", but "throughout the route there are local traffic alternatives, duly signposted, ensuring the essential conditions for local mobility in this area", with the António de Azevedo street, next to the Arrábida Shopping, having already been "reopened to traffic".

The global investment value of the Rubi Line (Casa da Música - Santo Ovídio, including a new bridge over the Douro River) is 435 million euros, an investment funded by the Recovery and Resilience Plan (PRR).

The Rubi Line, with 6.4 kilometres and eight stations, includes a new crossing over the Douro River, the D. Antónia Ferreira bridge, the Ferreirinha, which will be exclusively reserved for the metro and for pedestrian and bicycle traffic.

In Gaia, the stations planned for the Rubi Line are Santo Ovídio, Soares dos Reis, Devesas, Rotunda, Candal and Arrábida, and in Porto Campo Alegre and Casa da Música.

The project must be completed by the end of 2026.

According to Metro do Porto, the new line will bring "benefits of various types, quantified at 1.7 billion euros and which materialise, for example, in more than 12 million annual Metro users", of which 10 thousand students with facilitated access to the Campo Alegre university campus, "an annual reduction in CO2 [carbon dioxide] emissions estimated at 17,475.4 tons", and 5.2 fewer cars on the streets annually.

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