Major Expansion of IC20 Connecting Almada to Costa da Caparica Completed After 20 Months

The expansion work on IC20, the road linking Almada to Costa da Caparica in the Setúbal district, was completed on Monday night after 20 months of construction, according to the local municipality.

In a statement, the Almada City Council explained that over the past 20 months, several interventions were carried out to widen the Complementary Itinerary (IC) 20 from three to four lanes in each direction, between Centro Sul and the Faculty of Sciences and Technology (Caparica), covering a stretch of 3.9 kilometers.

Now, those traveling from Costa da Caparica towards Lisbon have access to a tunnel and a viaduct, ensuring direct access to the area known as the 'garrafão' of the 25 de Abril Bridge.

"This was one of the municipality's demands from the moment the central government announced this intervention, as compensation for the impacts and disruptions caused by this work in the county," the municipality stated.

For those coming from Almada, the alternative access to the Centro Sul roundabout for those heading to the 25 de Abril Bridge is now via the Rotunda do Monumento aos Trabalhadores da Indústria Naval - hospital node.

The IC20 now features four lanes in each direction, between the A2/IC20 node and the University node.

New pedestrian crossings with access to soft modes of transport are also available at the University node, in the service area and Pragal station area, and at the Hospital node, with an elevator for those with reduced mobility.

"The Almada City Council congratulates itself on the completion of the IC20 works, which represent a new approach to mobility, and thanks all Almada residents and visitors for the way they dealt with the constraints over the last 20 months," the municipality said.

According to the company responsible for managing the IC20, AEBT -- Autoestradas do Baixo Tejo, the work was carried out to fulfill a contract obligation that stipulated an increase in the number of lanes when a certain daily traffic flow limit was reached.

The IC20 records an average daily traffic of over 60,000 vehicles annually.