Rodoanel Mário Covas (official designation SP-021) is the planned (and partially built)

beltway A ring road (also known as circular road, beltline, beltway, circumferential (high)way, loop, bypass or orbital) is a road or a series of connected roads encircling a town, city, or country. The most common purpose of a ring road is to assist i ...

of the

Greater São Paulo Greater São Paulo ( pt, Grande São Paulo) is a nonspecific term for one of the multiple definitions of the large metropolitan area located in the São Paulo state in Brazil. Definitions Metropolitan Area A legally defined specific term, ''Reg ...

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

. Upon its completion, it will have a length of , with a radius of approximately from the geographical center of the city. It was named after Mário Covas, who was mayor of the city of

São Paulo São Paulo (, ; Portuguese for ' Saint Paul') is the most populous city in Brazil, and is the capital of the state of São Paulo, the most populous and wealthiest Brazilian state, located in the country's Southeast Region. Listed by the Ga ...

(1983–1985) and a

state State may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State * ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States * ''Our S ...

governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

(1994-1998/1998-2001) until his death from cancer. It is a

controlled access highway A controlled-access highway is a type of highway that has been designed for high-speed vehicular traffic, with all traffic flow—ingress and egress—regulated. Common English terms are freeway, motorway and expressway. Other similar terms i ...

with a

speed limit Speed limits on road traffic, as used in most countries, set the legal maximum speed at which vehicles may travel on a given stretch of road. Speed limits are generally indicated on a traffic sign reflecting the maximum permitted speed - expre ...

of under normal weather and traffic circumstances.

History

The first section was inaugurated in October 2002, starting at the ''Estrada Velha de Campinas'' (lit. Old Road of Campinas), in the northern part of São Paulo, and ending at the Régis Bittencourt highway, in Embu, covering . It crosses

Anhanguera Anhanguera may refer to: People * Bartolomeu Bueno da Silva (1672–1740), a bandeirante Places in Brazil * Anhanguera, Goiás, a municipality in the state of Goiás * Anhanguera (district of São Paulo), a district in São Paulo * Parque Anhan ...

, Bandeirantes, Castelo Branco, and Raposo Tavares highways. There are urban accesses to the cities of

Osasco Osasco () is a municipality in São Paulo State, Brazil, located in the Greater São Paulo and ranking 5th in population among São Paulo municipalities. According to the IBGE 2015, Osasco currently has the 9th highest gross domestic product in B ...

and

Carapicuíba Carapicuíba () is a municipality in the state of São Paulo in Brazil. It is part of the Metropolitan Region of São Paulo. The population is 403,183 (2020 est.) in an area of . It is one of the most densely populated municipalities in the sta ...

, but it also crosses through the municipalities of

Barueri Barueri ( or ) is a Brazilian municipality in the State of São Paulo located in the northwestern part of the Metropolitan Region of São Paulo. The population is 276,982 (2020 est.) in an area of . Its boundaries are Santana de Parnaíba to th ...

, Santana de Parnaíba, Embu, Cotia, and

. The current segment has three

tunnel A tunnel is an underground passageway, dug through surrounding soil, earth or rock, and enclosed except for the entrance and exit, commonly at each end. A pipeline is not a tunnel, though some recent tunnels have used immersed tube cons ...

s, one of them being the largest and widest one in Brazil, with , 62 viaducts and six

bridge A bridge is a structure built to span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or rail) without blocking the way underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, which is usually somethi ...

s. On September 15, 2006, the State Government announced the start of the construction of the South Segment, which would link the west segment to the Anchieta and Imigrantes highways and ending in Papa João XXIII Avenue in

Mauá Mauá () is a municipality in the state of São Paulo, in Brazil. Is part of the metropolitan region of São Paulo. The population as of 2020 is 477,552 inhabitants (11th largest city in population number of the state), the density is and the ar ...

. It would serve as a corridor for more than 250,000 trucks per month which must go through the city of São Paulo in order to interconnect to or from the city port of Santos, which is accessible via the two highways cited above. During the construction, a major accident happened when three recently installed ledges fell on the Régis Bittencourt highway, hitting three cars and injuring three people. The construction was expected to take almost five years, mainly due to the complex urban zones and difficult terrain it would cross (including a series of artificial

lake A lake is an area filled with water, localized in a basin, surrounded by land, and distinct from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on land and are not part of the ocean, although, like the much large ...

s and

dam A dam is a barrier that stops or restricts the flow of surface water or underground streams. Reservoirs created by dams not only suppress floods but also provide water for activities such as irrigation, human consumption, industrial use ...

s and a mountainous region), but it ended up being inaugurated in April 2010, although some sections were missing guard rails and proper traffic signs. Upon its completion, estimated for 2025, it will have interconnected the Fernão Dias (in the North Segment), Presidente Dutra (opened in 2015) and

Ayrton Senna Ayrton Senna da Silva (; 21 March 1960 – 1 May 1994) was a Brazilian racing driver who won the Formula One World Drivers' Championship in , , and . Senna is one of three Formula One drivers from Brazil to win the World Championship and ...

(opened in 2015) East Segment main highways, besides many other smaller ones.

Importance

The São Paulo Beltway is considered a major strategic investment for the efficiency of road transportation in the economically most important region of the country. São Paulo is a

megacity A megacity is a very large city, typically with a population of more than 10 million people. Precise definitions vary: the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs in its 2018 "World Urbanization Prospects" report counted urban ...

, with a population in excess of 20 million inhabitants, and more than 6 million vehicles. Most of the cargo transported by road or other modalities back and forth from the port of Santos today pass through the city of São Paulo generating incredible traffic jams at all hours of the day, with a loss of more than 1.7 billion hours per year (more than 25 million trips a day). Although the city already has an inner beltway (called the Marginals, see Marginal Pinheiros and Marginal Tietê), it is over 30 years old and its capacity is completely saturated since (up until the construction of the Rodoanel) it is the only connection between the major highways around the city of São Paulo. It has been estimated already that more than 30% of the Marginal's traffic was relieved as a consequence. A recent study, however, has shown that the impact of the Rodoanel in the traffic of São Paulo will quickly diminish, since the number of new cars sold in the city breaks records successively and will quickly compensate for the absence of trucks in the city. The importance of the Beltway is underlined by popular approval, with June 2004 showing 85% approval rates, 86% of users deeming it a very important resource, and 80% of positive aspects. More than 300,000 vehicles (78% of them automobiles) use the Beltway every day. The system has an estimated peak capacity of 700,000 vehicles per day.

Management

The Western section, completed in 2002, is a

toll road A toll road, also known as a turnpike or tollway, is a public or private road (almost always a controlled-access highway in the present day) for which a fee (or ''Toll (fee), toll'') is assessed for passage. It is a form of road pricing typically ...

managed by a private group called CCR. The Southern section (opened in 2010) is managed by SEMPER, who won the public tender to manage, collect tolls and also to build and collect tolls on the recently finished Eastern section.

Tolls

CCR RodoAnel has 13 toll plazas installed by the extension of the western section of the Mário Covas ring road, and the collection of the fare is only carried out once every trip at the exits of the highway. The values are adjusted annually in July based on the variation of the Extended National Consumer Price Index (IPCA), as established in a contract with the Government of the State of São Paulo. The payment of the toll is reversed in investment in works on the roads and the collection of taxes on the tariff is destined to the municipalities cut by the highway. In 2012, CCR RodoAnel made a transfer of R $9 million to the 7 municipalities through which the highway passes.

References

External links