Repaving Starts on the Ponte 25 de Abril Tonight, With Two Lanes Shut in Each Direction on the First Nights
Lusoponte is resurfacing the road deck between 22:00 and 06:00 every night until Friday. The bridge stays open, but on the first nights that leaves a single running lane in each direction.
Resurfacing work begins on the roadway of the Ponte 25 de Abril tonight and runs every night until Friday. Lusoponte, the concessionaire for both of Lisbon's Tagus road crossings, announced the intervention last Thursday and set the window at 22:00 to 06:00 each night between 21 and 25 September.
The bridge stays open throughout. What changes is capacity, and on the first nights it changes a lot: Lusoponte says that on the nights of 21 and 22 September it will be necessary to close two lanes in each direction at the same time. The company describes the work as part of a routine maintenance programme established in advance, and asks drivers to plan any journeys across the bridge ahead of time.
What two lanes each way actually means
The Ponte 25 de Abril carries three lanes in each direction on its upper deck. Closing two of them simultaneously leaves a single running lane per direction for the duration of the closure. Between ten at night and six in the morning that is usually enough, but it removes every margin: one breakdown, one collision or one slow vehicle and the queue has nowhere to go.
Traffic over the crossing does not stop at ten. Night-shift workers heading into Lisbon from Almada, Seixal and Barreiro, airport runs, and anyone driving back from the south coast on a Friday evening all pass through that window. It is worth allowing extra time rather than assuming an empty bridge.
The alternatives, and their catches
- The Ponte Vasco da Gama. The obvious diversion, and the tolled one. From the Almada side it adds a substantial detour east before you cross, so it makes sense for journeys already heading for the eastern side of Lisbon and much less sense for anything bound for Alcântara or Belém.
- The ferries. Cacilhas, Seixal, Montijo and Barreiro all run boats into Lisbon, though sailings thin out sharply late at night. One recent change matters if you are an occasional user: the Terreiro do Paço counter no longer accepts cash, so turning up with coins and no card is now a problem in itself.
- The train. Fertagus services run on the lower deck of the same bridge. The works announced are on the road deck, so rail passengers have no reason to expect disruption from this particular intervention.
A bridge that is now 60 years old
The crossing turned 60 in August, and maintenance on a structure of that age is neither unusual nor discretionary. The road deck was widened from four lanes to six in the 1990s and the rail deck added beneath it, which means the surface now carries considerably more weight and traffic than it was designed for in 1966.
Repaving is the least glamorous item in that maintenance programme and one of the most consequential: the running surface is what determines braking distances in the rain on a crossing where a large share of the traffic is commuter traffic at speed. Four nights of single-lane running is a small price. The one thing worth avoiding is discovering it at 23:30 on the approach ramp.
