Portugal’s government has ruled out removing the toll gantries from motorways that became exempt from tolls in 2025 following a measure proposed by the Socialist Party and approved with support from Chega.
Local residents, municipalities and Chega have called for the gantries to be dismantled. They were installed more than a decade ago when the former Scut roads began charging users. During a parliamentary hearing on the proposed 2027 state budget, Infrastructure Minister Miguel Pinto Luz again rejected the request.
The government says removing the equipment would incur additional costs and make it impossible to count traffic on some roads. That information is needed to calculate, in certain cases, the compensation that the state must pay motorway concessionaires after the end of toll collection.
Pinto Luz said the €400 million in annual revenue no longer collected from tolls, including some benefits received by foreign drivers, is ultimately paid by Portuguese taxpayers. He stressed that the contracts with concessionaires must be honoured and said the roads require public funding.
The minister added that the loss of revenue could amount to many billions of euros over the duration of the concessions—money that could otherwise be used to finance new construction projects.
Most of the toll exemptions apply to former Scut roads in Portugal’s interior, directly affecting revenue received by Infraestruturas de Portugal. The Beira Interior concession, which operates the A23 motorway, is a separate case because its concessionaire collected the toll revenue. The company is negotiating compensation with the state.
The government has asked Infraestruturas de Portugal and the Institute for Mobility and Transport to submit a proposal for financing the road sector based on a study by the Mobility and Transport Authority. Pinto Luz said he would not abandon the user-pays principle, although he acknowledged that inland areas could receive greater support under a future funding model. He also urged opposition parties to consider an integrated approach rather than proposing measures for individual roads.
During the same hearing, Infrastructure Secretary of State Hugo Espírito Santo said the government had commissioned a safety audit of the EN125 road in the Algarve. Its redevelopment has been delayed for more than a decade by arbitration and court proceedings that began after the Court of Auditors refused to approve the project.
Espírito Santo said the dispute surrounding the Algarve Litoral concession had created serious obstacles to changing the arrangement. However, he indicated that a finding of a serious safety problem in the audit could give the government greater scope to intervene. Pinto Luz also asked Algarve municipalities to work with the government on improvements that could be made without involving the disputed concession.
The government officials were also questioned about several road investment projects. The secretary of state said the 2025 Council of Ministers resolution identifying priority works would be reviewed to include additional projects.
Sources: Observador.