Metro and Ring Road will not receive investments in 2017.
The expansion of the Belo Horizonte metro and the revitalization of the Ring Road begin 2017 shelved and without prospects for progress, six years after being included in the federal budget; the metro has been stalled for two years and depends on negotiations between the federal and state governments regarding the management of the tracks in the capital; the Ring Road is stalled by legal disputes involving evictions along the highway and by a lack of resources.
Mines 247 - The expansion of the Belo Horizonte metro and the revitalization of the Ring Road begin 2017 shelved and without prospects for progress, six years after being included in the federal budget. The metro has been stalled for two years and depends on negotiations between the federal and state governments regarding the management of the tracks in the capital. The Ring Road is stalled by legal disputes involving evictions along the highway and by a lack of resources.
The governor of Minas Gerais, Fernando Pimentel, admitted that the subway situation is "complicated" and unlikely to be resolved in the next two years. According to the head of the executive branch, negotiations with the federal government are stalled, and since March, the Minas Gerais government has been awaiting a response regarding a possible transfer of subway management to the state administration.
“We sent an official letter in March 2016 proposing that MetroMinas take over the management of the metro. We asked that, for a period of time, the payroll of CBTU (Brazilian Urban Train Company) be paid by the federal government, as is normally the case. They did not respond to us. If we had taken over, we would have sought international partners to expand the line. But the matter is still open, and we have no choice but to wait for the federal government to decide the way forward,” said Pimentel, during an interview with Estado de Minas.
Commenting on the Ring Road, Pimentel stated that a possible solution for the state's busiest road section would be to include the works in the concession agreement made by the federal government. According to the governor, "there is a path for the Ring Road, which gives us some hope. As it is within the BR-040 concession, the federal government is negotiating with the concessionaire the inclusion of improvement works on the stretch that goes from the exit to Rio de Janeiro to the exit to Brasília."
"This is a discussion taking place in the federal capital, and we very much hope it will have a positive outcome. The works on this stretch would solve at least half of the problem, which is the revitalization of the section of the highway where most accidents occur," he added.
The concessionaire Via 040, responsible for managing the highway since 2014, reported that the expansion works on the ring road are not included in the contract signed with the Federal Government. "It is important to highlight that Via 040 is responsible for managing the road system of the Ring Road, which includes pavement and signage recovery, maintenance, and conservation services. Works to expand the capacity of the lanes and to duplicate bridges and viaducts are not foreseen in the concession contract signed with the Granting Authority, the National Agency for Land Transport," the company stated in a note.
In 2014, the Federal Court ordered the National Department of Transport Infrastructure (DNIT) and the State Secretariat of Public Works (SEOP) to define a schedule for the works. The agencies committed to accelerating the process of vacating the properties and delivering the detailed engineering designs.
Since the second half of last year, however, evictions have been suspended and there is no forecast for the start of construction. Parliamentarians from Minas Gerais demanded the release of funds from the Ministry of Transport for the Ring Road, but the ministry informed them that it will conduct an internal survey to check if there are any completed and viable projects already.