The company told Lusa News Agency on Wednesday that the intervention, being executed by subcontractor company, Rotas do Algarve Litoral (RAL), along a 105-kilometre stretch, now has 30 June 2017 set as the date for completion of the works.
In a statement, IP said that the work, which aims to improve paving, reinforce signalling, install safety systems, and rectify certain intersections with several roundabouts to improve local accessibility, “is progressing at a good rhythm.”
Some 30 roundabouts are being built along a 70-kilometre section of the road between Lagos and the IC4 intersection.
The interventions are now expected to be finished before the summer, which is the height of tourist and road flow in the Algarve.
Infraestruturas de Portugal said a second phase of work would only begin after a new, renegotiated contract between IP and RAL comes into force.
The contract is currently in the final phase of renegotiation and still needs approval from the Institute of Mobility and Transport and the Court of Auditors, before coming into force.
The works of the first phase that are underway are on the section between Lagos and the node with the IC4, where 30 roundabouts are being completed along the 70 kilometres of the section.
Of these, roundabouts in Porches and near the Zoomarine theme park have already been completed and are in full swing.
“The completion of this work will significantly improve the mobility and safety conditions for the thousands of EN125 users, as it is a road of great importance for the entire region of the Algarve and which in recent years has suffered with this prolongation of works”, IP concluded.