We went to Campo de Ourique, a neighborhood that Zone 30 will partially pass. Between streets with heavy traffic, vehicles stopped on curves and on top of crosswalks and parking on the sidewalk, we arrived at the Rua Saraiva de Carvalho. It was here, on the stretch between numbers 64A and 104, that a user on a social network took and shared a photo of a narrow, hard-to-walk sidewalk filled with bollards, making the usable area even smaller.
If it's true that there is a sidewalk next to a wall (the one at the English Cemetery), the photograph didn't show the other side of the street, where the sidewalk has been doubled to allow even two child seats to cross itas exemplified by the Campo de Ourique parish council. The newspaper Polygraph consideredTherefore, the internet user's complaint is false.
The previous appearance of the street consisted of two sidewalks of less than 50 centimeters, which not only led pedestrians to choose the asphalt to walk on (putting them at risk), but also contradicted the Public Space Manual of the city, which establishes 1.20 meters of "minimum useful width (...) between the axis of the pylon and the marginal plane of the pedestrian path".
The Campo de Ourique Parish Council explained to us that the sidewalk next to the wall had to be laid to correct its imperfections - is slightly inclined and does not have a linear curvature - helping vehicles to guide their maneuver and avoid possible collisions. The bollards, meanwhile, prevent any temptation to park or stop quickly in the area, something that, for example, we encountered on a street just nearby.
Saraiva de Carvalho Street you won't get any of the 30+bike runners which are planned for Campo de Ourique and have already begun to be implemented. However, the street has some details for traffic calming and improving safety for everyone. The sidewalk next to the crosswalks has been advanced to give pedestrians more visibility and prevent illegal parking, the curves of the streets have been tightened to force a reduction in speed and also make it impossible for vehicles to stop abusively, the widened pedestrian area makes it possible to walk comfortably and motorcycle pockets have been installed next to the crosswalks to take advantage of the previous five meters where a parked car would take away visibility.
The grammar that Campo de Ourique followed in that street is the same one that is being applied in other areas of the city such as Alvalade and which the Parish Council intends to extend to more streets. It won't be a quick or immediate process, but little by little it will make the neighborhood safer, calmer and more breathable.
