A section of the Uíma River walkways will be completed by the end of 2026.

The fourth section of the Uíma River walkways will be completed by the end of 2026, the Santa Maria da Feira City Council announced today, which will spend 1.34 million euros to create an additional 3.2 kilometers of walkway to Escapães.

The project concerns the pedestrian and cycle path which, in the aforementioned municipality in the district of Aveiro and the Porto Metropolitan Area, currently covers approximately five kilometers between the parish of Fiães and that of Caldas de São Jorge, where the thermal lake is now intended to also be connected to the Nadais leisure park in Escapães.

In mid-2024, when the public tender for the project was opened, the mayor predicted spending around 1.5 million euros on the work, starting the work in early 2025 and then completing the intervention in 26 months, but now he reports that the cost of the new section, whose work started in September, will be slightly lower and that the work will also be faster, expected to be completed "in 14 months".

“The project to redevelop the banks of the Uíma River is an ongoing effort that the city council has been developing over the years, with very visible results in enhancing the area and improving people's relationship with nature,” Amadeu Albergaria told Lusa.

“After the previous phases, the potential and need to extend the route between Caldas de São Jorge and Escapães, also passing through Pigeiros, became evident, creating new connections to the route and renewing leisure spaces along the way,” he adds.

Some plots of private land needed for the new section are still being negotiated, "for transfer or expropriation," but, in any case, the project foresees that the new walkway will include 2.2 kilometers of wooden flooring, which will be partially elevated in the wetter areas of the route or identified as potential floodplains.

The new path will also include 887 meters of permeable pavement, 163 meters for the parking area at the Nadais access point, and 101 meters of Portuguese-style paving.

With a contribution of 569,000 euros from the Norte 2030 program, the project foresees "technical solutions of natural engineering for the stabilization of riverbanks and improvement of the habitat of riparian species," which, around willows, ash trees, and alders, are intended to be safer in the face of the expected increase in human presence in the area.

The local flora biodiversity also includes fringes, elderberries, greater periwinkles, bryonies, white bellflowers, barberry ferns, royal ferns, mountain ferns, broom, chestnut trees, oaks, holm oaks, pine trees and eucalyptus trees – which coexist with disused watermills and old irrigation channels for the cultivated fields.

Once completed, the fourth section of the Uíma walkways will also feature rest and relaxation areas equipped with treated wood furniture, environmental information points, and a new parking area in the Várzea Leisure Park, in Pigeiros.

“This new phase will allow us to rehabilitate the riverbanks and create accessible routes that combine nature, well-being and inclusion, because we want everyone – families, children, seniors, people with reduced mobility – to be able to enjoy the Uíma River safely and in harmony with the surrounding environment,” concludes Amadeu Albergaria, announcing that the municipality will provide its own team to ensure the regular and adequate maintenance of all the walkways in the municipality.

The fourth section of the Uíma River walkways will be completed by the end of 2026, the Santa Maria da Feira City Council announced today, which will spend 1.34 million euros to create an additional 3.2 kilometers of walkway to Escapães.

The project concerns the pedestrian and cycle path which, in the aforementioned municipality in the district of Aveiro and the Porto Metropolitan Area, currently covers approximately five kilometers between the parish of Fiães and that of Caldas de São Jorge, where the thermal lake is now intended to also be connected to the Nadais leisure park in Escapães.

In mid-2024, when the public tender for the project was opened, the mayor predicted spending around 1.5 million euros on the work, starting the work in early 2025 and then completing the intervention in 26 months, but now he reports that the cost of the new section, whose work started in September, will be slightly lower and that the work will also be faster, expected to be completed "in 14 months".

“The project to redevelop the banks of the Uíma River is an ongoing effort that the city council has been developing over the years, with very visible results in enhancing the area and improving people's relationship with nature,” Amadeu Albergaria told Lusa.

“After the previous phases, the potential and need to extend the route between Caldas de São Jorge and Escapães, also passing through Pigeiros, became evident, creating new connections to the route and renewing leisure spaces along the way,” he adds.

Some plots of private land needed for the new section are still being negotiated, "for transfer or expropriation," but, in any case, the project foresees that the new walkway will include 2.2 kilometers of wooden flooring, which will be partially elevated in the wetter areas of the route or identified as potential floodplains.

The new path will also include 887 meters of permeable pavement, 163 meters for the parking area at the Nadais access point, and 101 meters of Portuguese-style paving.

With a contribution of 569,000 euros from the Norte 2030 program, the project foresees "technical solutions of natural engineering for the stabilization of riverbanks and improvement of the habitat of riparian species," which, around willows, ash trees, and alders, are intended to be safer in the face of the expected increase in human presence in the area.

The local flora biodiversity also includes fringes, elderberries, greater periwinkles, bryonies, white bellflowers, barberry ferns, royal ferns, mountain ferns, broom, chestnut trees, oaks, holm oaks, pine trees and eucalyptus trees – which coexist with disused watermills and old irrigation channels for the cultivated fields.

Once completed, the fourth section of the Uíma walkways will also feature rest and relaxation areas equipped with treated wood furniture, environmental information points, and a new parking area in the Várzea Leisure Park, in Pigeiros.

“This new phase will allow us to rehabilitate the riverbanks and create accessible routes that combine nature, well-being and inclusion, because we want everyone – families, children, seniors, people with reduced mobility – to be able to enjoy the Uíma River safely and in harmony with the surrounding environment,” concludes Amadeu Albergaria, announcing that the municipality will provide its own team to ensure the regular and adequate maintenance of all the walkways in the municipality.

The fourth section of the Uíma River walkways will be completed by the end of 2026, the Santa Maria da Feira City Council announced today, which will spend 1.34 million euros to create an additional 3.2 kilometers of walkway to Escapães.

The project concerns the pedestrian and cycle path which, in the aforementioned municipality in the district of Aveiro and the Porto Metropolitan Area, currently covers approximately five kilometers between the parish of Fiães and that of Caldas de São Jorge, where the thermal lake is now intended to also be connected to the Nadais leisure park in Escapães.

In mid-2024, when the public tender for the project was opened, the mayor predicted spending around 1.5 million euros on the work, starting the work in early 2025 and then completing the intervention in 26 months, but now he reports that the cost of the new section, whose work started in September, will be slightly lower and that the work will also be faster, expected to be completed "in 14 months".

“The project to redevelop the banks of the Uíma River is an ongoing effort that the city council has been developing over the years, with very visible results in enhancing the area and improving people's relationship with nature,” Amadeu Albergaria told Lusa.

“After the previous phases, the potential and need to extend the route between Caldas de São Jorge and Escapães, also passing through Pigeiros, became evident, creating new connections to the route and renewing leisure spaces along the way,” he adds.

Some plots of private land needed for the new section are still being negotiated, "for transfer or expropriation," but, in any case, the project foresees that the new walkway will include 2.2 kilometers of wooden flooring, which will be partially elevated in the wetter areas of the route or identified as potential floodplains.

The new path will also include 887 meters of permeable pavement, 163 meters for the parking area at the Nadais access point, and 101 meters of Portuguese-style paving.

With a contribution of 569,000 euros from the Norte 2030 program, the project foresees "technical solutions of natural engineering for the stabilization of riverbanks and improvement of the habitat of riparian species," which, around willows, ash trees, and alders, are intended to be safer in the face of the expected increase in human presence in the area.

The local flora biodiversity also includes fringes, elderberries, greater periwinkles, bryonies, white bellflowers, barberry ferns, royal ferns, mountain ferns, broom, chestnut trees, oaks, holm oaks, pine trees and eucalyptus trees – which coexist with disused watermills and old irrigation channels for the cultivated fields.

Once completed, the fourth section of the Uíma walkways will also feature rest and relaxation areas equipped with treated wood furniture, environmental information points, and a new parking area in the Várzea Leisure Park, in Pigeiros.

“This new phase will allow us to rehabilitate the riverbanks and create accessible routes that combine nature, well-being and inclusion, because we want everyone – families, children, seniors, people with reduced mobility – to be able to enjoy the Uíma River safely and in harmony with the surrounding environment,” concludes Amadeu Albergaria, announcing that the municipality will provide its own team to ensure the regular and adequate maintenance of all the walkways in the municipality.