The investments into infrastructure which are planned for the world cup 2014 have today been announced in more detail in the “Tribuna do Norte” newspaper.

Back in September the Secretary of Infrastructure of the State of Rio Grande do Norte and the Secretary of Urban Mobility of Natal had requested funds from the federal government for the construction of new and improved roads and bus routes connecting the new airport of Sao Gonçalo de Amarante, the airport of Augusto Severo, the hotels of Ponta Negra and the Via Costeira to the area where the new stadium is to be built in preparation for the 2014 FIFA world cup. Yesterday this was unofficially confirmed to be approved.

Today, the improvements to be made to the roads and related infrastructure in Natal over the next 4 years in preparation for the 2014 FIFA World Cup have been announced. R$ 387.5 million has been allocated for the following improvements to be made:

· Connection of the BR-406 to the new Sao Gonçalo do Amarante airport (est. R$ 15m)

· Structural corridor from the west to the BR-226 (est. R$ 39.5m)

· Roadway in front of the city centre (R$ 36.1m)

· Geometric restructuring of the Mor Gouveia (R$ 23m)

· Connection of the Mor Gouveia road with Prudente de Morais (R$ 26.1m)

· Connection of the Prudente de Morais to the Raimundo Chaves (R$ 18.2m)

· Connection of the Prudente de Morais to Lima e Silva (R$ 75.4m)

· Connection of Lima e Silva to Romualdo Galvao (R$ 21.6m)

· Connection of Salgado Filho to Marginal da Avenida (R$ 9.2m)

· Connection of Salgado Filho to Mor Gouveia (R$ 28.3m)

· Connection of Roberto Freire to Aryton Senna (R$ 20.4m)

· Connection of Roberto Freire to Missionary Gunnar Vingren (R$ 20.8m)

· Connection of Roberto Freire to the Via Costeira (R$ 15m)

· Implementation of boarding platforms for loading of passengers (R$ 13.3m)

· Sidewalks, walkways and signage (R$ 15m)

· Elongation of Prudente, connection to Augusto Severo and Arena das Dunas (R$ 10.5m)

Perhaps you are not familiar with the names of all the roads, or their location, but R$ 387.5 million / 137.6 million GBP/ 146.2 million Euros has been allocated. For more information on plans for Natal for the 2014 FIFA World Cup, visit this link (in Portuguese): http://www.copa2014.org.br/cidades-sedes/NATAL/

Well it’s not new news, but it is still great news!

You may already be aware that that three cities in the North East of Brazil: Fortaleza, Recife and Natal have all been named among the host cities for Brazil’s 2014 World Cup.

I am amazed that all three cities achieved “host status”, (perhaps it was a political decision), but in any event, this is going to enhance the region’s reputation further and it will be great for the local economy. » Read more

Well finally, I have got around to creating a blog! I ‘m fairly new to blogging, but the idea is to post some content – snippets, news or interesting stories or anecdotes about Brazil every so often, with the hope that they will be of interest to you.

If you’ve signed up to receive emails from us, then you may have already some of this content, but if you found it of interest the first time, well then you love it second time around! » Read more