Although in 2020 the Lisbon City Council announced a segregated bike lane for Avenida de Ceuta, as part of its pop-up bike lane program, the definitive project for that avenue maintains a shared path between pedestrians and cyclists.
Although in 2020 Lisbon City Hall announced a segregated bike lane for Avenida de Ceuta, as part of its bike lanes program pop-up, o definitive project for that avenue maintains a shared path between pedestrians and cyclists. Public tender for the renovation of Avenida de Ceuta is launched, construction work should follow.
According to the cycling network map built and planned for the city of Lisbon, the infrastructure of Avenida de Ceuta will be divided into two sections: a first one just after the tunnel and that will be the so-called "cycle path", integrated in the Green Corridor; and then another that will take the form of a bidirectional bicycle path and will continue along Rua João de Oliveira Miguens and Rua de Cascais, two streets contiguous to Avenida de Ceuta, until Alcântara.
For now, only the "cyclopedestrian path" - which will run alongside the Alcântara Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP) up to Quinta do Cabrinha - will go ahead. The Lisbon City Hall has launched the public tender for the last phase of the Alcântara Valley Green Corridor (procedure no. 6/CP/DGES/ND/2021), allowing for the continuation of the corridor that for now ends in the tunnel that allows crossing the railway.
The project, which is the responsibility of Sá Fernandes' Green Spaces council, was revised in 2019 but not to include a segregated bike lane. Thus, cyclists coming down the Alcântara Valley from Campolide will have to share the space with pedestrians, on a route that should have little foot traffic. In the descriptive memory, we read that the new route starts "in contiguity with the Quinta da Bela Flor, following the cycling path that emerges from the uneven crossing".
The green corridor along the Avenida de Ceuta will have two lakes and an artificial stream alongside the road trafficThe water will be recycled from the WWTP, and will be contained by a wall on one side, with an elastic margin on the other side where the development of riparian species will be promoted. "In the spaces adjacent to the lakes, green and paved surfaces offer possibilities for recreation and pedestrian connections, in connection with the proposed clearings and groves."
Cycling traffic will pass over a sidewalk on the east side of Avenida de Ceuta, which should be extended to 3.6 meters and that it will be "shielded from the road, through a continuous green space, where it is suggested to extend the existing alignment of plane trees". The central separator of the avenue will be maintained with its 4.5 meters to create the aforementioned recycled water channel, which can be appreciated from the car window in a short pass through the site. If it were not for the central separator reserved for the creek, it would be possible to install a bidirectional bike lane with an excellent width on Avenida de Ceuta.
According to the architectural project, the Avenida de Ceuta will maintain, in each direction, two traffic lanes with a third BUS lane dedicated to public transportation. The shared promenade will be developed only on the east side of the avenue.
Bi-directional bicycle path in Avenida de Ceuta still without date
The cyclopedestrian path and the overall intervention on Avenida de Ceuta will end at the entrance to Quinta do Cabrinha. From there, cyclists will be able to follow the future bidirectional cycling path until Alcântara. Contacted by Lisboa Para Pessoas, the EMEL says it is studying "the implementation of a cycling path that starts in the Alcântara docks area, passes the Alcântara Viaduct and connects through Avenida de Ceuta to the cyclopedestrian section". The company, responsible for the construction of new bike paths in the city, did not want to commit to dates, nor give more details about how the route may be.
EMEL also did not clarify whether the mentioned bike lane could solve the interruption currently existing at the docks, where cyclists are forced to get off the vehicle. The Port of Lisbon, manager of the space, has recently changed the signage to reinforce the ban. The situation could, however, be quickly corrected with the creation of a cycling path north of the docks, through the area of the line (see photo below), which would connect the area below the deck of the 25 de Abril Bridge to the GIRA station located in the Praça da Doca de Alcântara. The collective Vizinhos de Belém is working on this proposal and other suggestions for improving the riverside bike path, expecting to have a document ready soon.
What is certain is that the Lisbon City Hall had announced in June 2020 a bicycle path pop-up on Avenida de Ceuta, which according to the first forecasts would be finished in September of that year. The released layout showed the bike path connecting from the cyclopedestrian tunnel that allows crossing the railway line to Alcântara. The bike path in Avenida de Ceuta is fundamental to connect the western part of Lisbon (Alcântara, Ajuda and Belém) to the northern and central zones of the city through Campolide.
