In Porto Alegre, some projects will only begin after the World Cup.

Iuri Müller, On the 21 - Initially planned for completion by June of next year, a large portion of the works for the 2014 World Cup will only be finished after the tournament. Facing difficulties in carrying out various urban transformations, the Porto Alegre City Hall has sought another form of guarantee: maintaining federal government funding so that the works can be inaugurated even after the competition.

On June 12th, exactly one year before the start of the competition, the Porto Alegre City Hall held a tour to present the progress of the city's renovations to the press. Leading the tour was Mayor José Fortunati (PDT), who expressed confidence that a large part of the works would be completed by the first half of June of the following year. However, he had already indicated a delay in the construction of housing for families relocated from Vila Cruzeiro, which had not yet begun even 50 days after the visit.

In an interview with Sul21, the Secretary of Management for the City of Porto Alegre, Urbano Schmitt, commented on the status of various projects – such as the creation of the BRT (Bus Rapid Transit) system, the current stage of the removals and the widening of Avenida Tronco, and the changes to access to the Beira-Rio Stadium, a World Cup venue. In addition, Porto Alegre is expected to undergo modifications to streets in the city center, aimed at mitigating long-standing traffic problems.

Porto Alegre is seeking resources from the PAC Urban Mobility program to guarantee infrastructure projects in the city even after the start of the World Cup.
Due to delays in the construction of Avenida Tronco, the BRT system, and the viaduct on Avenida Plínio Brasil Milano, among other projects, the City Hall sought to readjust its financing arrangements with the federal government. "The federal government provided the financing, allowing the municipality to borrow resources in a more appropriate way. Now we are part of the so-called PAC Mobility program, which ensures resources even after the World Cup," stated Urbano Schmitt.

On the federal government's program portal, three projects related to the BRT system are already listed – on Bento Gonçalves, João Pessoa, and Protásio Alves avenues, with their respective terminals Antônio de Carvalho, Azenha, and Manoel Elias. According to Urbano Schmitt, "the BRTs are being planned sequentially. The first step was the bidding process for the bus corridors and paving, which is a slow process with an impact on mobility."

The next step, according to the secretary, should be the completion of the station and terminal projects – which are not expected to be ready until the start of the World Cup. For Schimitt, "the replacement of the concrete slabs and the paving of the corridors, once finished, will already help us a lot in the context of urban mobility," he downplayed. According to the secretary, "other cities have also opted for this form (of financing). Porto Alegre was the city with the largest number of planned urban mobility projects, but similar situations occurred in São Paulo and other places, with the adaptation to the PAC Mobility program."

The City Hall guarantees that the new deadlines and conditions should not alter the initial cost of these works – and affirms that, if there were a need to complete the road widening, viaduct construction, and road changes before the World Cup, then the cost of the works would likely increase compared to the initial forecast. "If these works needed to be expedited now, with work at night in some locations, the costs would increase. Having migrated to the PAC Mobility program, this will not happen," declared Urbano.

Priority is given to the area surrounding the Beira-Rio Stadium; the situation of residents on Avenida Tronco remains undefined.

Although Porto Alegre has several unfinished projects in 2014, the City Hall is betting on completing the projects near the Beira-Rio Stadium to guarantee public access to the games. The widening of Avenida Beira-Rio and the construction of the Pinheiro Borba viaduct, in addition to the renovation of the stadium itself, which will get a new roof, should be completed by next June. In the city center, the viaduct on Avenida Júlio de Castilhos, according to the municipal government, will also be ready.

In the southern zone of Porto Alegre, however, the most sensitive point of the city's urban transformations remains without immediate guarantees for the population directly involved. The widening of Avenida Tronco, in Vila Cruzeiro, foresees the removal of 1.500 families from the neighborhood, and last week, a report by Sul21 stated that less than a third of the residents have had their situation resolved so far.

Just as families who opted for social housing are not expected to have their new homes ready until June 2014, the widening of the avenue is also not expected to be completed for the World Cup. According to Urbano Schmitt, "on Avenida Tronco, the social issue takes precedence over the engineering issue, and this needs to be considered." The secretary stated that the City Hall was slow to find companies interested in building the new housing, which only happened a few days ago. Even so, the municipality "at this stage depends on Caixa Econômica Federal, making it impossible to set a deadline" for the houses to be built.