In the last few games at Alvalade it has been like this: the bike path that crosses Campo Grande is used to access a makeshift parking lot on top of a grass area. Authorities have no answer.
When there's a game on, part of the Highway Code seems to be annulled. In the vicinity of the city's main stadiums, the scene is repeated match after match: abusive parking on sidewalks and cycle paths, and when there isn't any, it's on the road. The authorities seem to be turning a blind eye and there also seems to be no will to solve this problem, for example, through special mobility plans for match days, which allow for a healthy balance between the needs of the fans and the day-to-day life of the city.
A complaint reached us this Sunday, November 28, from the vicinity of Sporting's stadiumThis was the first time that the Leónino club had beaten Tondela 2-0 in the Primeira Liga. The following images were sent in by two witnesses who were cycling along the Campo Grande cycle path as they usually do.
A green area between Jardim do Campo Grande and the Faculty of Sciences of Lisbon was plagued by illegal parking at game time. This is at least the second time this has happened, and it's an unprecedented situation compared to what happened in the past, according to Lisboa Para Pessoas. A few years ago, it was common to park in the Cidade Universitária area, also in a green space (which had recently been redeveloped), but the situation has since been resolved with the placement of some physical barriers.
However, other instances of abusively parked cars still occur in the vicinity of the stadium whenever there is a match, but it is rare for them to occupy the city's gardens and parks. Generally, it's pedestrian and cycling mobility that suffers, as drivers choose to use the spaces intended for walking or cycling, which often results in dangerous maneuvers on low crosswalks or access to cycle paths.
"I cycle on this path regularly. This is the second time I've seen this situation. The first was on a Champions League match day"", says one of the witnesses, referring to the match between Sporting and Borussia Dortmund on November 24. "That day was a priority - I was on my bike with my son and was almost pushed onto the grass. What bothers me most, apart from the lack of civility, is the destruction that cars cause"It's not only the green area but also the bike path, he says, "it's not designed to support vehicles weighing one or two tons, the road surface is already uneven and tends to become even more degraded".
As a solution, he points to inspection. "There are dozens of PSP and Municipal Police officers just a few meters away - it's impossible for them not to see." He adds: "The amount of parking on match days is not enough, nor does it need to be. Alvalade Stadium is the stadium with the best public transport options in the whole country." In the case of Sporting's stadium, the 1,315 seats in the subway park seem few for a stadium that holds 50,000 fans, but the facility is served by two metro lines, one of the city's main bus interchanges and has at least four GIRA stations nearby.
Another witness, heard by Lisboa Para Pessoas, says that "even though I often pass by that bike path"He tries to avoid it on match days, but this Sunday "I happened to go there". "When I passed by there was only one car parked on the grass, and I decided to stay there for a while to see how the situation developed. More cars started arriving, and many of them had clearly already used the garden as a parking lot in the past, as they showed no hesitation in climbing onto the cycle path"he reports. "Most of them were completely indifferent to my presence, even though they were passing within a meter of me." This witness asks for supervision at the site, but says that "another possibility would be to install a pylon in the middle of the cycle path, next to the road", "although, in general and for safety reasons, I don't advocate the installation of bollards on cycle paths".
Lisboa Para Pessoas contacted the Public Security Police, the Lisbon Municipal Police and the office of Lisbon's councillor for mobility, Ângelo Pereira, but only received a reply from the latter on December 12. A source from the office said that the "Lisbon City Council condemns abusive parking throughout the city"because "creates obstructions to pedestrian accessibility, making it difficult for pedestrians, particularly those with reduced mobility, to pass through, and puts those trying to get around vehicles in a dangerous situation". "Since abusive parking is the responsibility of the Municipal Police, we will reinforce enforcement in the area involved, especially on days that are more prone to these offenses"The mobility councillor's office also said.
Article updated on 12/12/2021: added comments from the office of Lisbon's mobility councillor, Ângelo Pereira
