Will the Square be sorted out by September?

[Lesley Jean]

Well I think it is beginning to look really nice, can't wait to get out and see it again (soon I hope)

[tricky]

I was in Carvoeiro last week and found it to be very quiet.
The square is coming along but not sure i like the 'motorway style' of lamp posts dotted about and I hope that the holes that are in the paving stones are for trees. Still no sign of benches etc.
The roads as previously updated, are in a mess but hopefully nearer being sorted out.
I think the whole situation has made people stay away from town. I know I avoided going down in the evenings as it was so quiet and actually it felt rather depressing.
I prefered to go to Ferragudo or Silves.

All the locals I spoke to were obviously quite worried about the summer trade.
Still, all that aside, the sun shone, the beaches were lovely and the welcome was a nice as ever

[redford]

Thanks for the recent pics, have to say the progress of the work appears to be getting slower and slower the less that they have to do?? Is this the feeling out there??

Way beyond completion dates indicated now, surely they want to get everything finally sorted within the next couple of weeks?? Feel sorry for the traders etc who must have been really badly affected by the length of time this has taken, they started when we were last there in the first wek of January!

The headline of this topic is starting to have some real meaning!

[Ellie]

I was in Carvoeiro last week and found it to be very quiet.
The square is coming along but not sure i like the 'motorway style' of lamp posts dotted about and I hope that the holes that are in the paving stones are for trees. Still no sign of benches etc.

Not sure I like it either Tricks...hopefully an avenue of trees will make it look better, that would be nice....but Ill miss sitting in the centre and watching Carvoeiro folk walk by...

Dont know why, but reminds me of William Cowper's 'The Poplar Field'...
'The Poplars are fell'd,farewell to the shade..
and the whispering sound of the cool colonnade..'

Trees make such a difference to any place..I love 'em and hopefully there will be flower tubs too and some benches for us to sit on

[Barry]

Agree with you about the current lack of any greenery, or seating, Ellie. Lets hope they arrive before the end of the project. Also agree with the comments about the lamp posts. Would have hoped for something a little more traditional. When we were over, a number of people expressed concerns that the finished square would be too modern, and lose all of it's traditional appeal. I know we have to move forward, but it can be done with sympathy.

[widge]

Here at present and haven't spoken to anybody who likes the changes yet! General feeling is that Carvoeiro has lost it's character and that the local shop keepers will suffer from lost trade. Probably too soon to draw any conclusions yet.

[fatscholes]

shopkeepers are disgruntled because the camara have still not considered them in their decision making. There was a meeting last Monday with regards to Rua de Pescadores. This is due to be dug up start of June for around 3 months. Thats the Summer! hence why the notes are on all the shops at present showing their displeasure.

was out there last week & i was actually suprised at the work rate of the builders. I was also, after coming to Carvoiero for 24 years, very pleasantly surprised by my reaction to the square's evolution. I thought I would be completely turned off by it but I have to say that it seems to have expanded the squares presence & although very light on seating, I was very relaxed about the whole thing. To make this more suprising we had to manoverve a double buggy around the potholes & uneven ground.

Looking back to the pictures of the 1930s, to the black & white photos of the 1960s, to the change in the square in the late 1980s, I think that each time the same discussions were taking place, yet the question of Carvoeiro's character & charm should not be too much of a subject point as the town is not relocating from its most picturesque setting. I myself think that the character & charm of the town is being effected more by loud bars being opened, but realise this is progress of tourism

[Bristle Si]

Hi all! Myself and my wife have been coming to Carvoeiro for the last 8 years and still love the place. The Square looks OK from 'a distance', but one would have expected better planning in this day and age to get everything ready for the busy summer season. Hope it's all finished by the time we visit in September.
Someone earlier thought Carvoeiro was losing it's charm. When we visited last september it still felt very much the same to me, but it does seem to get quieter every year.
The problem i see is that there are some buildings that have been empty or in a derilict state for a number of years now and if i'm honest it seems a little 'tired'. I can understand why some new visitors could be put off coming back. We just love the place, normally staying in Monte Carvoeiro. But visit the beach on a few days, lunching outside O Barco (is it open yet?). Come into the town most nights; restaurants great, finishing off with a great time in Round-Up.

[EMM]

Work has started on the Old out road to replicate the improvements to the IN road.

It has been dug up past ELa and Elas leaving a narrow strip of pavement on each side.
It will be interesting to see how long it takes.

There are barriers now in the square to indicate the way through for cars.
Apparently a few idiots tried parking there this weekend.

[EMM]

There seems to be a new spectator sport in CVO watching the tourists find their way around the square and then out of town again.
Some of the expressions on the face of the motorists range from confusion to annoyance even better when those coming in on the IN road meet someone coming down hill from Monte CVO.

[rod...]

Thankfully where we are staying, we can avoid the centre on the drive in and will do a recce that evening to prevent motoring embarrassment in the future. However, it sounds like a fluid arrangement, where they can change the rules to provide extra comedy moments at a moments notice.

[Gary/Gaynor]

So do you now come in on the in road or come in on the out road. In March I came in on the the out road its a bit like trying to explain criket rules when you are out you are in and when you are in you are out

Gary

[EMM]

ITS "SIMPLES ".

You can still come in on the old IN road except that you cant if you want to go all the way in and then turn left to go OUT on the old OUT road which had become the NEW " IN OUT ROAD "

You can go " OUT " on the old " IN OUT ROAD " which is not that any longer as it is " OUT ONLY " as far as the turn to the MArket where it becomes the IN OUT road again, except that you cannot go IN unless you are a bus or business owner.

The OLD out road which had become the NEW IN OUT road ( with me so far ) can oly be accessed by taking the left turn on the IN road just before you get to the new part.

You cannot turn right any more and have to follow the arrows which direct you back out of town.

If you wanted to come in on the IN ROAD and turn up the hill past Sullys, you CAN,T anymore as that is now a WAY IN as opposed to a WAY OUT.


" My head hurts "

[e-richard]

Thats very funny EMM

Now imagine that you have never been to CVO and try reading those instructions again

I was going to suggest that its probably wiser to refer to IN road and OUT road by their proper names (Rua dos Pescadores and Rua do Barranco respectively), but here's a challenge:

Has anyone seen any road signs with street names anywhere in Carvoeiro ?
Please post your photos here

[EMM]

Fair point, although there are steet names I have rarely heard the roads referred to other than as the in , out. in out etc etc.

A map showng the new routes on the forum would be a good idea, over to the techies .