Just come back from Portugal and I noticed Gantrys on the motorways, looked a bit like the one in Austria.
The had signs about pricing for each class of vehicle, but they weren’t filled in and most were covered. So anybody now when this goes live?
It may have been the Via Verde system which means green lane,no barrier,either pre paid credit,or they sent the bill when you register to use that fast lane.In the truck i would drive through without paying anything from Lisboa to Oporto,hoping the GNR are not nearby.
It’s not on the toll motorways near Lisbon, but as you join the A25 motorway through the border and then on various parts of the A23.
Ok,there was a notorious road called the IP5 that ran from Averio to the border at Villa Formosa,it was dangerous and slow,very steep inclines,the builders fled to Brazil with the Governments money,as was planned to build viaducts,it was bodged up,and take almost a day to do 140 miles.
toby1234abc:
Ok,there was a notorious road called the IP5 that ran from Averio to the border at Villa Formosa,it was dangerous and slow,very steep inclines,the builders fled to Brazil with the Governments money,as was planned to build viaducts,it was bodged up,and take almost a day to do 140 miles.
That’s something that I noticed, in the rest of Europe they’d build tunnels and viaducts on a motorway through hills like that, but in Portugal you just followed the contours of the hills.
A lot of drivers died on that road Muckles,brake fade with 22 tons of marble on A frames,i saw fully freighted wagons “going fot it” down the mountains with flames and smoke coming off the wheels,they were hoping the next gradient would act as a brake,as long as nothing slower was on the slope like a tractor or a combine.
The GNR used a helicopter,the pilots and coppers would “pop” in to the service station for the morning coffee and cognac,under cover cars were in operation,i got done for 81 kms p/h in a 80 kms ph speed limit,and taken in their car about 20 miles away to an ATM to get the cash for the court deposit.
One garage,a BP,used local housewives to cook the meals,they would fill the van up with big cauldrons of veal stew,or whatever was on the drivers menu of the day.
A short walk away from the IP5,down some small tracks,it would be like going back to biblical times,where time had frozen,Oxes with old fashioned wooden neck harnesses,and horses ploughing the land.
Following confirmation from road companies that all is in place to charge tolls on previously unpaid motorways, the government is reportedly looking to have them introduced on Saturday, 15 October.
The date in two weeks from now also marks the one-year anniversary of when tolls were first charged on three motorways in northern Portugal.
The motorways in question are the A22 (Algarve), the A23, A24 and the A25.
The cash-strapped government stands to save €700 million each year by no longer subsidising these motorways.
The implementation of tolls had been set for 15 April, but the previous government opted not to carry out the measure, arguing it would be unconstitutional to introduce tolls on the eve of a general election.
National road company Via Verde told The Portugal News earlier this year that it believed the government could still apply an exemption period for residents and businesses located within 20 kilometres of any stretch of a previously uncharged motorway, though cautioned that it could only be certain of this once the information had been published in the Government Gazette.
“If it remains unchanged, the first 10 trips on a motorway will be free. Thereafter, all trips will be charged with a discount of 15 percent”, explained Via Verde.
The ten credits will be used for every trip, irrespective of the distance travelled and will be exhausted as soon as a driver exits the motorway.
The exemption is expected to be terminated during the course of 2012, if not sooner. Motorists will have to apply for exemption prior to using a motorway and this can be done at a number of venues across the country, including Via Verde offices.
Estimates are that travelling along the Algarve’s A22 motorway will cost drivers just under 7 cents a kilometre. In total, a trip from Vila Real de Santo António in the east to just after Lagos in the west will cost €8.97.
Motorists wishing to travel on a motorway such as the A22 will be required to fit a transponder to their vehicles.
Regarding transponders, which, should a motorist opt for one supplied by Via Verde and is operational on all of the nation’s motorways, come at a cost of €27.50, though the cost drops to €25 if the user opts to receive their monthly statements electronically.
Foreign-registered cars will be allowed to hire transponders, paying a deposit of €27 and a minimum pre-payment of €50 that will be debited to the account associated with the transponder.
Upon returning the transponder, the owner of the foreign-registered vehicle will be debited or credited in accordance with the number of occasions toll roads that had been used. Car rentals are expected to operate in a similar manner.
Source Portugal News
Posted on A N Other site by some old geezer from the Basque regions 
billybigrig:
Following confirmation from road companies that all is in place to charge tolls on previously unpaid motorways, the government is reportedly looking to have them introduced on Saturday, 15 October.
Regarding transponders, which, should a motorist opt for one supplied by Via Verde and is operational on all of the nation’s motorways, come at a cost of €27.50, though the cost drops to €25 if the user opts to receive their monthly statements electronically.
Foreign-registered cars will be allowed to hire transponders, paying a deposit of €27 and a minimum pre-payment of €50 that will be debited to the account associated with the transponder.
Upon returning the transponder, the owner of the foreign-registered vehicle will be debited or credited in accordance with the number of occasions toll roads that had been used. Car rentals are expected to operate in a similar manner.
Source Portugal News
Posted on A N Other site by some old geezer from the Basque regions
Thank You to you and that Old Geezer (I’ve a good Idea who he might be 
) for clearing up that question.