The government announced that the ban on the circulation of heavy vehicles in Porto’s internal beltway (VCI) will enter into force on September 15, 2026. This is the “achievement in a few months”’ of a “decades-long aspiration”, says the President of the Porto Metropolitan Council (CMP), Pedro Duarte.

According to the Minister of the Presidency, António Leitão Amaro, the measure will be applied to heavy goods vehicles on working days, between 07:00 and 21:00, intending to disincentivize the use of VCI and diverting this traffic to Porto’s external beltway (CREP), where this type of vehicle no longer pays tolls.

“It is the culmination of a joint work between the Government, the Porto City Council and the Porto Metropolitan Area, and it is a great step forward for traffic management on one of the most overloaded roads in the country", stressed Pedro Duarte.

The president of the CMP, who also leads the Porto municipality, referred to the fact that the exemption from payment of tolls in CREP and prohibition of heavy goods traffic in VCI are two measures proposed by the working group of the Porto Metropolitan Area, consisting of the municipalities of Porto, Vila Nova de Gaia, Maia, Matosinhos and Gondomar.

The aim is to alleviate the constant congestion in the VCI, which Pedro Duarte believes is “one of the most overloaded roads in the country”. “It is a great step forward for the management of traffic on what is one of the most overloaded roads in the country”, stresses the president of the CMP, and a “a decades-long aspiration that sees its implementation after only a few months in office”.

Photo: Andreia Merca/Porto City Council