Finally, a road access law is being used to send tax demands to those whose driveways and forecourt parking areas have access to all Estrada Nacional roads, such as the Algarve’s EN125.
Far from being an April 1st prank, the law passed in October 2015 allows Infraestruturas de Portugal to charge people that have property next to an EN category main road who need to use the road to get to and from their house or business premises.
The tax is to license the driveway and those living in the north of the country have been receiving demands and are furious that they are being charged for access right to national roads that anyway are paid for by the taxpayer.
Infraestruturas de Portugal has involved the GNR which has been sending out letters to property owners demanding payment of up to €500 or fines of up to €2,500 will be applied.
The Infrastructure company said the National Road Network Statute is in force and the company merely is carrying out the terms of the legislation.
The thought of those living along the Algarve’s EN125 receiving a letter from the GNR to pay up or face a fine, may be too much for many property owners who have suffered years of on:off roadworks and a huge increase in traffic volume since the introduction of tolls on the A22 motorway in December 2011.
To add insult to wallet-damaging injury, if owners want to do any work on their driveways, the infrastructure company needs to be informed so it can raise a further range of fees for inspections and authorisations.
The Algarve’s mayors group AMAL has said nothing publically about the new tax but as it already is law, there may be little that can be done apart from the usual huffing and puffing and ‘strong demands.’
On the medical front, noisy roads are more than just a sleep-disturbing nuisance, according to a recent a widely publicised survey.
Living close to a busy road increases the risk of Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia by up to 12%, a major study has found. Scientists have found a clear trend with dementia incidence rising the nearer people lived to main roads. Compared with those whose homes were 300+ metres away, people living within 50 metres of heavy traffic had a 12% higher risk of developing dementia. The increase in risk fell to 4% for residents living 50-100 metres from a busy road, and 2% at 101-200 metres. At 200+ metres, there was no evidence of a link with the condition.
Although the differences are small, the findings add to recent evidence that long-term exposure to air pollution and traffic noise may contribute to brain shrinkage and mental impairment. Other results from the study suggested a connection between dementia and exposure to 2 common traffic pollutants, nitrogen dioxide and fine particles of sooty material generated by diesel engines.
Lead scientist Dr Hong Chen, from Public Health Ontario, said: “Our findings show the closer you live to roads with heavy day-to-day traffic, the greater the risk of developing dementia. “Increasing population growth and urbanisation has placed many people close to heavy traffic, and with widespread exposure to traffic and growing rates of dementia, even a modest effect from near-road exposure could pose a large public health burden. More research to understand this link is needed, particularly into the effects of different aspects of traffic, such as air pollutants and noise.”
The study, published in The Lancet, monitored the progress of every adult aged 20-85 living in Ontario from 2001 to 2012. In total, around 6.6 million people took part in the research. During the study period, the scientists identified 243,611 cases of dementia, 31,577 of Parkinson’s and 9,247 of MS.
No association was seen between proximity to busy roads and incidence of Parkinson’s or multiple sclerosis. Independent experts say the findings are important, while stressing that they highlight associations and do not demonstrate a causal link between exposure to traffic and dementia.
