"No bike lane will end in any location in the city"

"No bike lane is going to end in any location in the city." The guarantee was left by the new councilman of mobility of the Lisbon City Hall, Ângelo Pereira, in the public meeting of the executive that took place this Wednesday, December 22nd, at Paços do Concelho. "We will fix what's wrong, keep what's right, and we will grow the possibility for Lisboners to get around Lisbon through soft mobility."

Ângelo Pereira also recalled that "Lisbon is not only Avenida Almirante Reis. There are many avenues, many streets". and clarified that "it is the goal of the City Council, of this executive, of our President Carlos Moedas, to increase the cycling network in our city, and to adapt and correct what is wrong". You can see the Lisbon mobility councilman's intervention here:

Ângelo Pereira was responding to an intervention by the movement Lisbon Possiblewhich emerged after the October demonstration in defense of the Almirante Reis bike lane. Ksenia Ashrafullina e Rita Pratesmembers of this collective, challenged the City Council members to think about what legacy they want to leave in the city's history, telling a short story that can have two outcomes, and it's up to Carlos Moedas' executive to choose one.

In a small improvised theater, Ksenia presented a Lisbon without pollution and that "regained the smell of the sea"with trees and gardens everywhere, with space for walking and cycling, with children playing in the streets of the neighborhoods without lines of cars, with avenues where the noise of cars has been replaced by the buzz of conversations. For her part, Rita detailed an option, B, that of "Lisbon we know"There are no decent sidewalks, no space to play, and speeds that make the streets dangerous, a Lisbon that has lost bicycle lanes and where ambulances get stuck between stopped cars.

The Movement Lisbon Possible explained that Carlos Moedas can choose the first scenario ("option A"), a "Green, European, pedestrian Lisbon, where children can independently cycle to school" and also "a Lisbon that teaches the pleasure and beauty of living well". Ksenia and Rita argued that "it is possible" to have this Lisbon "even today" with three measures: Zero Emission ZonesA 30 km/h urban limit and the maintenance of the Almirante Reis bicycle lane. "We have to save it, we can't destroy even an inch of it before discussing alternatives and, if there are any, we can even build the best bike lane in Lisbon, in Portugal or even in the universe"said Ksenia, calling for a cycling network in Lisbon that is not "to the tatters". Rita finished: "What are we going to see in Carlos Moedas' Lisbon chapter?"

Left applauds intervention

On the left, the reaction was unanimous. Beatriz Gomes Dias, BE councilwoman, said that "it is to be welcomed that today the councilman has committed to the maintenance of the Almirante Reis bike lane"speaking in a "important breakthrough" and in a recognition of "importance and relevance of this bike path"after your "demonization" in the election campaign. "The entire surroundings of Almirante Reis need to be requalified but that bike path has become paradigmatic of everything we want to defend and the setbacks we don't want to accept."

João Paulo Saraiva, from the PS, spoke in a "momento histórico" (historical element) and in an assumption of "mea culpa" by the current executive that, through the voice of councilman Ângelo Pereira, "has just belied what was said in election campaign". The socialist councilor regretted the "obsession with the Almirante Reis bicycle path" during the campaign, and welcomed the promise to expand the cycling network, as well as the willingness to improve the existing infrastructure.

João Paulo Saraiva also said that from Carlos Moedas "an apology is due" to those who participated at the demonstration in defense of the bicycle path on October 19, after his inauguration. The mayor claimed at various times that that demonstration had been "partisan" and a "political instrumentalization"and also said that during the same was called "killer" - a cry that both the participants and the organizer deny was uttered. For the PS councilman, the demonstrators "exercised what is a civic right and duty"with "commitment and dedication without being instrumentalized by anyone but their conscience".

Ana Jara, from PCP, defended that a "problematic election campaign bike path" must be maintained, improved and "also discussedbecause it has never been and it seems that there are too many people to discuss this city".. The communist councilwoman stressed that "Lisbon has many plans with many visions of the future that always or almost always fail to be realized" . Ana Jara congratulated the intervention made by Ksenia and Rita for bringing "a vision of the future" - "it's rare but it shouldn't be that rare"he said. He defended zero zones not only in the city center, because "there continue to remain hotspots of high pollution in the city, which have to stop. We have to put an end to it.".

Rui Tavares, from Livre, mentioned that the intervention made "reports a problem that belongs to all of us. It is undesirable to make a cultural war in this city around the issue of soft mobility. It is right to understand that the problem of pollution affects everyone and that a city with fewer cars is a healthier, safer and cleaner city".. He pointed out that "there are no inevitable futures" and that "the choice is really up to the one who is living the present. He also said that the Lisbon Possible movement has "allies of this vision of the city in this council. I even believe it will be the majority of the council" and that it has allies too "for that bike path to be maintained". Rui Franco, from Citizens for Lisbon, pointed out that Ksenia and Rita "you can count on the commitment" of your civic association and that "we wish that these options that you defend here" are "desirably" defended by all.

Has the position of Moedas' executive changed?

After hearing all the councilors who asked to speak, Carlos Moedas emphasized that "we all agree on the way" but that "we cannot create a friction path to get to a carbon neutral city". "What we see in these kinds of discussions, and we saw it here today in a way, is creating a friction in the city that is not positive"commented the mayor. “No policies"Moedas reaffirmed that it is necessary "look at that bike path and understand how in the long run it can be something that is right", showing concern about being a very condensed avenue, where "ambulances are often in great difficulty" (which does not correspond to the factual and empirical reality of Almirante Reis) and "there are older people who tell us they can't ride a bike". And he remembered:"There is not just one side, there are two sides."

Despite having stated in no uncertain terms during the election campaign that the Almirante Reis bicycle path was "to finish"Carlos Moedas now appears to be more open to dialogue. In recent interventions, The new mayor had already stated that he would not remove the bike path until he had studied it and found an alternative. In September, Lisboa Para Pessoas wrote that Coins could prepare a major requalification of Almirante Reisintegrating the bicycle path pop-up in a more definitive environment, and aggregating some public space projects already foreseen in the involving, such as the Parada do Alto de São João, the Praça do Chile and the Martim Moniz. In the coalition's program New Times for the parish of Arroios, was promised, in fact, a "major intervention in Avenida Almirante Reis that supports a well-planned and better executed bicycle path" - the PSD/CDS have secured the presidency of that parish in the current term.

The fear of the removal of the Almirante Reis bicycle path and the significance that this would have led about a thousand people to take to the streets on October 19 to state their support for the infrastructure pop-up. A petition with nearly three thousand signatures collected exclusively on paper was delivered, at the beginning of this month, to the Lisbon Municipal Assembly (AML), and is currently being analyzed. If it is true that Moedas has said now, as councilman Ângelo Pereira reiterated this Wednesday, that the Almirante Reis bike lane would not be removed without a better alternative, this was not the message that the current executive presented at the beginning of the term or in campaigning - Moedas did not create a clear temporal relationship between the removal of the bike lane and the study of an alternative.

The petition delivered to the AML requested, among other things, precisely "maintenance of the Almirante Reis bike lane as long as there is no broad public participation that arrives at an alternative that offers a safe street for everyone and attractive and comfortable for active modes". Carlos Moedas announced this Tuesday, in the Municipal Assembly, which has already had a first meeting with LNEC to start a process of safety assessment of bike paths. For the President, this is a fundamental step for the future of the cycling network, including for the Almirante Reis cycling path. In a brief side note at this public town hall meeting, João Paulo Saraiva challenged Moedas to conduct an audit of the network not only with LNEC: "With your knowledge as a European Commissioner and a man of Europe, you must have a vast knowledge of European experts who could come here and give a refresher on how we can look at this issue"

Back to Almirante Reis:"We will try to find a solution and we want to include you in that solution as well"said Carlos Moedas to the elements of Lisboa Possível in this public meeting. The movement has a meeting scheduled with councilman Ângelo Pereira for next January 14th to discuss Almirante Reis and the other issues.