It was approved, this Wednesday, by the executive of the Lisbon City Council a proposal from Livre aiming at reducing the city's dependence on fossil fuels. It includes reducing the maximum speed of circulation in the city by 10 km/h and closing Avenida da Liberdade to cars on Sundays.
Drafted and submitted for a vote by the city council four weeks ago, it was only this week that it was discussed in a meeting proposed by Livre with a view to "reducing dependence on fossil fuels in the City of Lisbon"based on the context of the war in Ukraine. The proposal was approved by a majority with the two PCP councillors abstaining and the seven PSD/CDS coalition councillors voting against.
There are several ideas on the table that were voted on and approved together. One of the main ideas is reactivate the program The Street Is Yours, which throughout 2019 closed traffic on Avenida da Liberdade on the last Sunday of every month. Livre has proposed temporarily closing the city's iconic avenue to cars again, but this time on all Sundays and public holidays. In this way, the space that usually belongs to cars can be used by people on days when there is less traffic.
However, the Livre's proposal goes further and suggests "extension to all parishes, with the same frequency (every Sunday of the year)" of the "a central artery (or more) with local shops and services" so that "all citizens throughout the city can experience the experience of getting around on foot in a safe and comfortable way without needing their own car". In the parish of Alvalade, it could be Avenida da Igreja, for example; and in Arroios, one or two blocks of Avenida Almirante Reis, as it is, Livre himself suggested in his fundamental proposal for this artery.
Livre's proposal also aims to use these temporary closures to traffic to study, on a case-by-case basis and in each parish, permanent street closures, "in the sense of extending pedestrian areas or the definitive pedestrianization of certain roads"always with the promotion of consultation and public participation processes.
The Street Is Yours closed Avenida da Liberdade on the last Sunday of every month
The municipal program The Street Is Yours in 2019, Avenida da Liberdade was closed to traffic on the last Sunday of each month, with only the sides of the avenue available for cars. Also that year, Ribeira das Naus was closed to cars, but in this case it was closed every Sunday. In 2020, Lisbon City Council relaunched the The Street Is YoursIt also discreetly canceled the actions on Avenida da Liberdade and Ribeira das Naus. The new program promised more than 100 interventions throughout the city, including complete street closures, temporary restrictions or partial blockades.
O The Street Is Yours came about in the year of the pandemic and in a global context in which several cities were extending pedestrian space with temporary measures - some of which later became permanent. Despite the initial ambitious plan in LisbonIn the end, only part of it came to fruition, with the initiatives largely focused on extending terraces and other commercial spaces.
For example, the weekend closure of part of Avenida da Igreja, in AlvaladeIn the end, the event only took place on a Sunday, due to an alleged boycott by the parish council and local businesses, who decided not to open their doors on that day in order to attract more people to the street. In 2021, some The Street Is Yours became definitive, as was the case with Rua dos Bacalhoeiros, in Santa Maria Maior, or the final stretch of Rua Cláudio Nunes, in Benfica.
Reduce speed and normalize 30 km/h
In addition to the recovery of The Street Is YoursThe Livre proposal, approved by a majority, also includes a reduction in maximum traffic speeds by 10 km/h, i.e. from 80 to 70 km/h on 1st level roads such as Segunda Circular, from 50 to 40 km/h on 2nd level roads such as Campo Grande, Avenida da República or Avenida da Liberdade, and generalization of 30 km/h throughout the city on the remaining streets (3rd, 4th and 5th level roads). It should be remembered that The National Road Safety Authority (ANSR) has been defending the banning of 30 km/h as the maximum speed in urban areas.following the latest international recommendations. In Spain, for example, the 30 km/h limit has become the new urban norm - there are still avenues and structural axes with a 50 km/h limit, but they have become the exception rather than the rule.
Promoting remote working in Lisbon City Hall, electrifying the cab fleet, reducing energy waste in buildings, promoting the use of public transport and encouraging forms of soft mobility, with the extension of GIRA, BiciParks and the cycling network, are other ideas proposed by Livre and approved by a majority at the municipal executive meeting - seven votes against by the PSD/CDS councillors, abstention by the two PCP councillors and eight votes in favor by the Livre, PS, BE and Cidadãos Por Lisboa councillors. In drafting this proposal, which includes nine points, Livre was partly inspired by the recent report by the International Energy Agency (IEA) with 10 "priority" ideas for reducing dependence on fossil fuels.
According to what Lisboa Para Pessoas has learned, the PCP's abstention had to do with matters of detail; the party represented in the CML by João Ferreira and Ana Jara had even sent suggestions for changes to the proposal which, due to time constraints, were not incorporated in time for the city council meeting. The PSD/CDS, on the other hand, voted against because they didn't agree with the form of the proposal, despite being in favor of its general idea.
The proposal won't have to go to the Municipal Assembly and it will be up to the councillors in charge (i.e. the councillors in Moedas' "government" who have "portfolios") to work out how they will implement the various measures.
