Without prior notice and without a published project, work has begun on the new pop-up cycle path on Avenida Almirante Reis. Lisboa Para Pessoas has repeatedly - and through various channels - asked Lisbon City Council for the project, which has refused to respond on this issue.
Work has started on Avenida Almirante Reis for the construction of the new cycle pathwith the markings of the new route on the ground. According to Lisboa Para Pessoas, the project is being carried out by EMEL using the plafond horizontal and vertical signage available to the company. But the final execution project was never published.
Under construction is the third version of the cycle path, in pop-up - the version promised by Carlos Moedas. The new configuration will be a bi-directional downhill cycle path, which will remove one lane of traffic and limit the other to 30 km/h. This solution comes in response to the election campaign of the current Mayor of Lisbon. Moedas had criticized the current design and the bike lane itself, saying that it caused pollution and congestion, preventing the flow of car traffic. The then coalition candidate New Times had promised to remove the bicycle lane, talking about studying alternatives that, for example, would pass through the side arteries.
But after a a demonstration that brought around a thousand people cycling down the avenue, of a petition with over 3,000 signatures and a participatory process promoted by the municipality, Carlos Moedas changed position and decided to keep the cycle path, changing its configuration. The new bike lane configuration - a third version pop-up - would already have been decided before the public consultation process, which had two sessions open to everyone, and two more with local traders and associations.
It is not known for sure what has changed in the design since the people were consultedThe new cycle path aims to easing the exit from the cityby returning two lanes of car traffic in the uphill direction, while maintaining the cycle path in the downhill direction, in the direction of Baixa. At the two public sessions, architect João Castro, representing the Mayor's Office and responsible for the project, spoke of the importance of a continuous roadway on the avenueThis was also so that the avenue could have a uniform configuration, with no surprises in this or that block.
No project published
The start of work on Avenida Almirante Reis comes no bike path project published on the Lisbon City Council websiteas it had been practiced since the middle of the last mandate, after strong pressure from the oppositionHe also criticized Medina and the previous executive for imposing solutions on people and not betting on a policy of dialogue and dialogue. Moedas had also more recently criticized Medina and the previous executive for imposing solutions on people and for not investing in a policy of dialogue and transparency.
Despite the criticism, Moedas' executive is showing signs of a not dissimilar policy. On the City Council's website, where the bike lane projects are located, Avenida Almirante Reis appears as "under construction" but the project provided is the previous oneThe page has not been updated since. Lisboa Para Pessoas contacted the Lisbon City Council on several occasions, whether it was the Communications Department, the Office of the Councillor for Mobility or the Mayor's Office, requesting the public presentation made at the last participatory session and other relevant documents but never received any response. When we asked the architect João Castro directly after the last session, he said that he would have to check with his office (the President's Office) to see if he was authorized to share the documentation, but we have not received any further contact since then.
Lisboa Para Pessoas has once again questioned Lisbon City Council and now EMEL about the presentation and execution project. The only public information about the new Almirante Reis cycle path are press reports, in particular the one we published here, and a video that Carlos Moedas shared on his social networks.
In the event of a further refusal to make the documents available, Lisboa Para Pessoas will make a formal request to the Assembly of the Republic's Commission for Access to Administrative Documents (CADA).since the local authorities are required by law providing city documents and projects at the request of citizens: "Everyone has a right of access to administrative documents, which includes the right to consult them, to reproduce them and to be informed of their existence and content"Article 5 of Law 26/2016 states. Article 3 specifies that an administrative document is "any content, or part of such content, which is in the possession of or held on behalf of the bodies and entities referred to in the following article, whether the information medium is in written, visual, sound, electronic or other material form"such as, "public procurement procedures, including contracts concluded"or "budgetary and financial management of bodies and entities".
Almirante Reis to be cut off for underground works
The third version of the bike lane on Almirante Reis will go ahead even with the drainage works planned for the avenue soon. No date has been set (or at least announced) and the duration of the work is unknown, it is true, however, that traffic will be temporarily cut off for a prolonged period in order to update the rainwater drainage system.
According to General Drainage Plan of the city, a few months' intervention is at stake, which will nevertheless require the cutting of Avenida Almirante Reis in the downward direction in the Intendente area, in order to open a hole in the road to allow excavation and work on the underground drainage system.
"Basin L includes the sub-basins of Av. Almirante de Reis and Martim Moniz, covering a total area of 347 ha. The network has a length of around 79,500 m and unitary behavior, with the most frequent diameter range being 400-600 mm. It is believed that around 45% of the collectors were built before 1919. The network serves around 58,400 inhabitants."
- General Drainage Plan
"As far as the state of conservation is concerned, the Calçada de Arroios collector is made of cascons and is very damaged, so it should be replaced or rehabilitated. The rest of the network works satisfactorily, with the exception of the well-known overflow problems that often occur in Praça da Figueira and which are the result of either a structural problem there (poor connection of collectors near the Hotel Mundial, in Martim Moniz/Rua D. Duarte) or the hydraulic incapacity of the downstream collector.
As a result, this basin has some stretches that lack hydraulic capacity and also have structural problems.
In summary, the main problems detected in basin L are as follows:
- General Drainage Plan
- Collectors in poor condition.
- Poor surface drainage.
- Poor connection of collectors, with high localized load losses.
- Stretches with structural problems and a lack of hydraulic capacity."
But João Paulo Saraiva, who held the drainage portfolio in the previous term, has said in public speeches that the contract on the table is not small and that it is a pit that will be difficult to dig and that it proposes to occupy the entire public road in a downward direction. All traffic would thus pass in the uphill direction, which could mean two lanes shared between bicycles and other vehicles on the section of the avenue under construction.
João Paulo Saraiva, who currently serves on the Lisbon City Council as a councillor without portfolio, and who leads the PS opposition, has said that the work can last two years in total, and it is not clear whether the specific cut can only be for a limited period of weeks or months. Lisboa Para Pessoas has also contacted Lisbon City Hall for clarification.
