Third lane of Imigrantes Highway advances with preliminary license imminent

The Conselho Estadual do Meio Ambiente (Consema) approved on Wednesday the technical report by Cetesb (Alexsander Ferraz/AT)

The preliminary environmental license certifying the feasibility of the third-lane project on Imigrantes Highway is expected to be issued in the coming days. The information was provided by the Concessions Director of Grupo Ecorodovias, Rui Klein, this Thursday (26), during the 1º Encontro Porto & Mar 2026, at Grupo Tribuna. The concessionaire is responsible for the project.

The Conselho Estadual do Meio Ambiente (Consema) approved on Wednesday the technical opinion of Companhia Ambiental do Estado (Cetesb) regarding the new lane. As a result, Cetesb is now able to issue the document.

“This is a major achievement, an important milestone within this phase of designing the third lane of Imigrantes. The preliminary license is the main guideline, as it defines the conditions and all the specific requirements that the project must comply with. It is the first major step toward materializing the investment”, said Klein to A Tribuna .

According to him, the next step will be obtaining the installation license to begin construction. “The State Government is still defining timelines but is working with a construction horizon of four to five years starting from the end of this year or the beginning of next year”, explained the director of Grupo Ecorodovias.

With a length of 21.6 kilometers, the new connection between Planalto and Baixada Santista is considered one of the most complex highway projects in the country. It is estimated that 81% of the route will consist of tunnels, a solution adopted to reduce environmental impacts.

There will be five tunnels totaling approximately 17.3 kilometers. One of them is expected to exceed six kilometers, which would make it the longest road tunnel in Brazil. The project also includes eight bridges and viaducts.

The new road will connect kilometer 43 of Imigrantes Highway to kilometer 265 of Cônego Domênico Rangoni Highway, near the Cubatão Industrial Hub, facilitating access to the Port of Santos. The expectation is to increase the system’s capacity by around 25%, positively impacting logistics and cargo flow.

Cetesb’s technical assessment highlighted the innovative nature of the project from an engineering standpoint, with a high concentration of tunnels — a solution that prioritizes the preservation of natural areas and reduces interference along the route, especially in the Mata Atlântica.

Construction is expected to involve the movement of approximately 4 million cubic meters of soil and rock, equivalent to about 1,600 Olympic-sized swimming pools.

Safety

To enable the project, Cetesb required the concessionaire to present a plan for the disposal of excavated material, as well as control measures for excavation activities and actions to protect water resources and biodiversity.

According to the CEO of Cetesb, Thomaz Toledo, environmental licensing is essential to ensure safety in a project of this magnitude. “We are talking about one of the most challenging highway projects in the country, in a sensitive area of the Serra do Mar.”