Nearly 3000 people petition the City Council to stop the abrupt end of the Almirante Reis bicycle path

According to the petition's promoters, the nearly 3000 signatures on paper make this "the largest petition since the beginning of the pandemic, demonstrating the support of the local population". Petitioners ask for the maintenance of the current bike lane until there is a participatory debate about the future of Almirante Reis.

Lisbon Photography For People

On October 19th, a thousand people took to the streets in defense of the Almirante Reis cycle pathThis was a demonstration that Carlos Moedas promptly dismissed as partisan. Now, some 3,000 people are petitioning the Municipal Assembly to stop the end of the bike lane on that avenue and to ask for participation.

The delivery of the petition to the Municipal Assembly means that the latter, as the body that oversees the work of the City Council, will have to discuss the future of the Almirante Reis cycle path. That process will begin in one or more standing committees - those dealing with the issue at hand - and then it will go down to the plenary, where all 75 municipal deputies are represented and where the PS and the left are in the majority.

The collection of signatures began on the day of the demonstration by a group of volunteers belonging to civic movements or associations, such as Caracol Pop or the recently formed Lisboa Possível collective. The petitioners are mainly people who live, work or study in Lisbon, excluding, for example, tourists or people with no connection to the city. Signatures were collected on the street over several days, as well as from stores and associations in the vicinity of Almirante Reis.

According to the promoters of the petition, the 2 915 signatures on paper make this "the largest petition since the beginning of the pandemic, demonstrating the support of the local population". The aim is to appeal to "a discussion on the future of Almirante Reis regarding the cycle path that runs along this avenue". Moedas is urged to maintain the current cycle path as long as there is no "broad public and technical participation, in a transparent process, to arrive at an alternative that offers a safe street for everyone".

"Thus, we call for the maintenance of the Almirante Reis cycle path until there is a broad public participation that arrives at an alternative that offers a safe street for everyone and attractive and comfortable for active modes. We therefore call for the launch of a participatory process that allows the future of one of the most important axes of the city to be discussed and to increase the quality of life of those who live, study or work there."

- petition

The promoters of the petition and its petitioners recall that "promoting the participation of the population in the co-creation of the city's public policies is a pillar of the new executive's program, and this is the ideal opportunity to fulfill this electoral promise in one of the most important axes of Lisbon". They want the bike path pop-up built at Almirante Reis - which has been attracting more and more users - is only the pretext for this discussion.

The Almirante Reis cycle path

A bike lane on Avenida Almirante Reis was not always planned, and it was even thought only between the Banco de Portugal block and Martim Moniz, passing through the contiguous Rua da Palma. In 2014, a bike lane on the Avenida Almirante Reis/Av. Guerra Junqueiro/Av. de Roma axis was planned. won the Participatory Budget then. In January 2020, the Lisbon City Council announced a bike lane on Avenida Almirante Reis as part of the project ZER ABC - which involved the partial elimination of cars from the historic city center. In June of the same year, he completed the same cycle path through a solution pop-up and with a bidirectional typology on the uphill side of the avenue.

The Avenida Almirante Reis has thus gained a new cycle path between Martim Moniz Square and Chile SquareThis would be extended, in September 2020, to the Areeiro traffic circle in the same bidirectional configuration. The solution pop-up emerged, however, without prior notice to residents and traders in the area. In November, heeding the harsh criticism, Lisbon City Hall announced review the cycle path and implement a new configuration in early 2021: instead of a two-way section in one direction, proposed a unidirectional typology in each direction. The works have started only at the end of March. The bike path is passable but the works to readapt the previous configuration of the bike path have been stopped for several weeks; in the Alameda area, the traffic light of the connection to Guerra Junqueiro has not been treated.

On 26 September, the coalition New Timesled by Carlos Moedas, won the municipal elections with a difference of about 3000 votes from the candidacy More Lisbon of Fernando Medina. Moedas had promised to remove the Almirante Reis cycle path and in the parish of Arroios it was also the coalition's promise. New Times winning. In a recent interview with Radio Observador, Moedas said and reaffirmed that "the situation of the Almirante Reis cycle path is bad for the city" because "that cycle path was not well thought out" - "it was a pop-up, an idea that came up during the pandemic" and that "creates a huge problem for ambulances going to the Hospital of São João" (this statement is false, as the cycle lane facilitates the movement of emergency vehicles when the avenue is congested).

"What I'm going to do and what I'm studying is to create an alternative and as soon as I have the alternative we obviously take the bike path from Almirante Reis. We are studying with engineers from various parties"he detailed. "I hope it will be as soon as possible but I'm not going to give a date or a day because I'd rather do it right than be promising." Moedas, in the same interview, referred to the October 19 demonstration as a partisan action - "those who will demonstrate partisanly in favor of cycle paths". "I go up to Almirante Reis, I talk to people and people wonder when I'm going to keep my promise. Promises are to be kept." Lisbon's new mayor had previously considered the demonstration a partisan action at a private town hall meeting, Lisboa Para Pessoas understands.

Luís Newton, president of the PSD bench in the Municipal Assembly and President of the Estrela Parish Council, had, on Sunday, November 21, given an interview with Diário de Notícias advancing that "a set of opinions is being collected from relevant entities in the field of mobility". Newton said "PSD does not do things backwards. There is planning, involvement of the city itself"Although the party through the coalition New Times having promised in an election campaign that the Almirante Reis cycle path would be removed, doing so without dialogue and without seeking the opinions that he now says he is gathering. "Alternatives are being looked at that could possibly go through other areas, that don't have that impact. This is what will be presented soon, with a solution."

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