New access route to the Port of Santos may have feasibility study presented this month

The Porto-Indústria Corridor would directly connect the future third carriageway of Rodovia dos Imigrantes to the Port of Santos, without using other highways (Vanessa Rodrigues/AT)

The feasibility study for the development of a highway concession model for the Porto-Indústria Corridor (Copi), proposed by the Municipality of Cubatão to expand access to the Port of Santos, is expected to be presented by Infra S.A. later this month. The forecast was announced by Minister of Transport George Santoro during a visit to the Port of Santos last Tuesday.

"The Infra S.A. team has set the end of July as the deadline. We are assessing whether the project is economically feasible, as the area is highly complex from an environmental standpoint", Santoro told A Tribuna.

Should the assessment produce a favorable outcome, the Minister stated that the Federal Government will begin discussions with the Government of the State of São Paulo.

"If Infra S.A.'s assessment is positive, we will schedule discussions with the Government of São Paulo", he said.

The proposal consists of an approximately 13.5-kilometer expressway that would directly connect the future third carriageway of Rodovia dos Imigrantes to the Port of Santos, eliminating the need for freight traffic to use Rodovia Anchieta and Rodovia Cônego Domenico Rangoni. The project would divert part of the truck traffic away from urban areas while improving freight transport efficiency.

The announcement was welcomed by the Mayor of Cubatão, César Nascimento (PSD).

"Cubatão is being treated with the seriousness it deserves by the Federal Government's technical agencies. The Porto-Indústria Corridor originated from a real need of our municipality and of the entire Baixada Santista region: to improve logistics, increase the efficiency of port and industrial access, and at the same time reduce the impacts of heavy vehicle traffic on urban mobility and the population's quality of life", he said.

Nascimento emphasized that "conducting feasibility studies is an important stage of the process. We have always maintained that a project of this scale must be technically grounded, and we are pleased to know that the proposal is expected to advance to discussions with the State Government. This demonstrates a willingness to develop joint solutions among the different public authorities."

The Mayor also stressed that the Municipality is closely monitoring every stage related to the Porto-Indústria Corridor.

"Our technical team maintains ongoing dialogue with the Ministry of Transport and the other institutions involved, providing information, technical studies, and all the necessary support to ensure that the proposal advances as consistently as possible."

Nascimento further highlighted that the Municipality is also working to include the project in the Federal Government's logistics planning.

"It is important that Copi be incorporated into the National Logistics Plan, which would help secure future investments for the project's implementation. We are also pursuing this objective. We will continue working responsibly, through dialogue and institutional coordination, to turn this project into reality."

According to the Mayor, the new access route represents a strategic investment not only for Cubatão but also for the entire logistics network serving the Port of Santos, "strengthening the region's competitiveness while promoting economic development with greater safety, efficiency, and quality of life for the population", he concluded.

The Porto-Indústria Corridor has been advocated as a structural solution to prevent the worsening of logistics bottlenecks resulting from the construction of the third carriageway of Rodovia dos Imigrantes and the expansion of operations at the Port of Santos.

The proposal aims to ease congestion within the Sistema Anchieta-Imigrantes (SAI), optimize truck access to the Port of Santos, and reduce the impacts of heavy freight traffic on Cubatão's urban road network.

Infra S.A. is assessing the project's economic feasibility, as the area presents significant environmental complexity (Reproduction)

State Government reviews proposal

In January this year, the Mayor of Cubatão, César Nascimento (PSD), met with representatives of the Government of the State of São Paulo to present the Porto-Indústria Corridor (Copi) proposal, an approximately 13.5-kilometer expressway designed to directly connect the future third carriageway of Rodovia dos Imigrantes to the Port of Santos, without requiring freight traffic to travel via Rodovia Anchieta or Rodovia Cônego Domenico Rangoni.

The Copi would feature two traffic lanes, paved shoulders, an estimated average travel time of approximately 10 minutes, and capacity to accommodate up to 20,000 vehicles per day.

The project has already been presented during a public hearing of the Conselho Estadual do Meio Ambiente (Consema) and submitted to the Conselho da Autoridade Portuária (CAP). The State Government has undertaken to evaluate the proposal.