Metro infrastructure works: closing of Rua dos Clérigos changes bus routes and suspends tram 22

As of this Wednesday, November 10th, Rua dos Clérigos will be closed to traffic due to the preparatory work for the construction of the future S. Bento/Liberdade station, on the pink line of the Porto Metro. The undertaking involves the alteration of STCP routes and the suspension of Line 22 of the tram.

In order to guarantee the public transportation service between the areas of Cordoaria and Aliados, there will be some changes in traffic, namely: Praça de Guilherme Gomes Fernandes will now have two ways; and the direction of traffic will be reversed in Rua de Ceuta and Praça de D. Filipe de Lencastre, except for public transport for which there will be a dedicated corridor in the upward directions.

Along with these changes there will also be an inversion of traffic direction in Rua do Almada between Praça Filipa de Lencastre and Rua de Ramalho Ortigão; and also in Rua de Ramalho Ortigão. The intention is to encourage the use of public transport as the most sustainable choice for people travelling to Porto’s downtown.

During the presentation of the project for the future S. Bento/Liberdade station, the city council responsible for Transport reinforced that “our advice is, in fact, to use public transport in the city centre”. Cristina Pimentel recalled that the “bus services are still being reinforced due to the pandemic, and will continue to be, according to what has been contracted”.

Changes to STCP routes, and the consequent creation of new temporary bus stops, and traffic direction alterations, will be maintained for the duration of the infrastructure works in Rua dos Clérigos, for a foreseeable period of 13 months, until December 2022, according to the president of Metro do Porto, Tiago Braga.

The works also involve changes in the circulation of trams, with the most impacting being the Carmo-Batalha route. Line 22, that covers the entire downtown area, connecting Cordoaria to Praça da Liberdade, S. Bento, Praça da Batalha and Guindais to Rua Santa Catarina, Aliados and Rua de Ceuta, and then return to Cordoaria, will be closed for approximately three years, the deadline for completing the works on the new metro station.

Line 18 of the tram, closed until November 13, also due to the construction of a Metro station in Porto, which will serve the Santo António hospital, will be extended. With the conclusion of the current works, the route, which starts in Carmo, will end in Passeio Alegre, instead of Massarelos. Passing every 30 minutes, it will have eight more stops (Bicalho, Ponte Arrábida, Encosta da Arrábida, Ouro, Fluvial, D- Leonor, Cantareira and Passeio Alegre).

Check all the traffic changes in Rua dos Clérigos | Rua do Almada | Praça da Liberdade | Avenida dos Aliados.