The Passeio Marítimo de Oeiras and the restrictions imposed on bicycles: what solution?

Next Sunday morningOeiras will cut traffic on Avenida Marginal allowing bicycles (and other active modes) to circulate safely in that car-dominated space. The event that will take place that day, between 8 am and 1 pm, is exceptional: for the vast majority of the year, those who want to cycle along the Oeiras waterfront are pushed from the safe Passeio Marítimo to the dangerous Avenida Marginal, where speed limits are, in some sections, up to 70 km/h.

If putting bicycles and cars in the same channel at 50 km/h is already unsafe for those who cycle (and who do it at 20-30 km/h), at 70 km/h it becomes unaffordable. But so it is: for several years now, the Oeiras City Hall has imposed restrictions on bicycle circulation on the Oeiras Waterfront Promenade, between Caxias and Praia da Torre. There are those who do not comply with the guidelines and are later surprised by police inspections, there are those who take the risk of taking the Avenida Marginal, and there are those who escape from it to the narrow sidewalks.

Matthew Baldwin, current head of the European Union by the 100 Neutral CitiesIn the last edition of Velo-city, which took place in Lisbon, he said something like this: it's it is a waste to give the seafront to cars and that, by humanizing it, we could even bring the tourist wave that today is limited to the Belém area, in Lisbon, to the neighboring municipalities of Oeiras and Cascais.

But the bicycle is not exclusively a means of leisure. For many people it is or can be a mode of transportation, complementary to the train and alternative to the car. It can be used for that last mile or even for the entire commute between home and work, taking advantage of the relatively flat land next to the sea.

The new regulation approved in 2021

Last year, the Oeiras Council updated the rules for the Oeiras BoardwalkIt also removed the month of April from the longest restrictions, and removed the month of April from the longest restrictions. It also removed the month of April from the longer restrictions.

The restrictions on the circulation of bicycles on the Passeio Marítimo de Oeiras are written in Article 24 of the Regulation No. 838/2021A document on the "Management of the Beaches of the Municipality of Oeiras" was published in the Official Gazette in September 2021, after being approved in an extraordinary session of the Oeiras Municipal Assembly on July 20th (the approval was by majority, with only the PAN and BE voting against).

Article 24

Accessibility conditions for the transit of bicycles and other similar means of circulation

1 - The circulation for sport and leisure purposes of bicycles, scooters, skateboards, skates, segways, hoverboards and other similar means of circulation is forbidden in the following periods:

a) During the months of May to October, between 9am and 7pm;

b) During the months of November to April, on Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays, between 10am and 5pm.

2 - The prohibitions referred to in the previous number do not apply:

a) Driving by children not older than 8 years;

b) When there is a cycle track specifically for this purpose.

When the rules were updated in 2021, it was also added that they would apply to other soft modes, such as rollerblades, scooters, and skateboards, hoverboards e segways; the previous ban was only clear for bicycles. Article 30 of the same Regulation states fines ranging from €50 to €3,500 for natural personsand 44,500 for legal entities (such as companies) that they disrespect.

Article 30

Misdemeanors on the Oeiras Maritime Walk

These are punishable by fines ranging from €50.00 to €3,500.00 for natural persons and €44,500.00 for legal entities:

(…)

d) Disrespect the general conditions of accessibility, as well as those especially applicable to the transit of bicycles and other similar means of circulation in the Passeio Marítimo de Oeiras.

Bike path on the Marginal only after VLN and VLS

In the aforementioned session of the Municipal Assembly of Oeiras, the Vice President of the municipality, Francisco Rocha Goncalves, who remained in office after the local elections, stressed that bicycles "they are not forbidden, they have schedules"because "there are times when they can't circulate on the Boardwalk because of the amount of people there". The municipality's position is simple to understand: "for some people not taking responsibility as they should"circulating at "reasonable speeds" and stopping "when it mattered" Whenever they saw that there were too many people on the Promenade, restrictions had to be put in place. To Francis, "it's a matter of common sense".

The official explained that, in the municipality's opinion, a bicycle path along Avenida Marginal should be made on this avenue, at the expense of reducing automobile space, and not on Passeio Marítimobut that that project "depends on the completion of the North and South Longitudinal Roads" (VLN and VLS), two new structuring axes for the city where the municipality intends to "transferring the circulation that today is done in a pendulum mode from east to west and vice versa"This will free up the Marginal and the waterfront of traffic.

Francisco Rocha Goncalves also clarified that in the Promenade Marginal there are areas that, due to their width, there is no space to make a segregated bike lane. "And naturally you may question the following: then why wasn't [the Promenade Marítimo] made with more space? Surely you realize the extra cost of a maritime work. A maritime work is very expensive. Every meter of width put on that Promenade Marítimo would cost the public purse and the municipal coffers a lot of money per kilometer.he said, recognizing, however, that the work began to be done at another time, when "it was not foreseeable the affluence that [the Walk] would have" and that "the last stages already have more space".

Restrictions have been in place since 2006

The first section of the Passeio Marítimo de Oeiras was completed in April 2002 - it was 2.3 km long and connected São Julião da Barra Fort to Santo Amaro de Oeiras Beach. Four years later, in December 2006, limits were set for the circulation of bicycles on the Promenade, after complaints from some users of the area on foot. The municipality intended "favoring pedestrian circulation but not making the circulation of bicycles totally unfeasible"just as it is today.

The second phase of the Passeio Marítimo was completed in 2009 and extended the promenade for another 1.45 km from Santo Amaro to Paço de Arcos - an investment of five million euros. The third phase was completed in 2017 - almost 2 km of extension between Caxias and Cruz Quebrada, connecting here to Algés; this section, which cost about 2.5 million euros and is also known as Passeio Marítimo de Algés (and not Oeiras), was the only one to be made with a segregated bike lane 2.5 meters wide, leaving five meters spent for pedestrian circulation.

The three phases result in a non-continuous 5.84 km long Oeiras Maritime Walkway, because there is an interruption between Caxias and Paço de Arcos. It is the fourth phase; in 2015, source of the autarchy referred that this section was "in study phase, as it is of greater complexity"The company will complete the existing hole in order to provide a continuous pedestrian (and cycling at certain times) connection between Lisbon and Cascais, covering the entire municipality.

Passeio Marítimo is Isaltino's, Marginal is Pedro Nuno Santos'.

For MUBi, the association for urban mobility by bicycle, "the intention to protect pedestrians walking and circulating on the Passeio Marítimo de Oeiras is understood"but not "that the decision to find a safe solution for bicycles, scooters and the like continues to be delayed"not least because - he says - "that section is marked in the PDM of Oeiras as a cycling path". For this association, "pedestrian protection should be at the top of the priorities"but "no less important will be the protection of those who commute by bicycle and that, currently, it is not safe to circulate on Avenida Marginal"..

MUBi believes that the Oeiras Council should find a way for bicycles to "get around safely" on the Marginal, which could be done by temporarily closing traffic lanes, or "live together harmoniously, and without conflict, on the Boardwalk". "Harmonious coexistence of pedestrians with cyclists is difficult but not impossible", points out.

There is one more difficulty in this issue of the Passeio Marítimo de Oeiras: while it belongs to the municipal domain, Avenida Marginal (which belongs to National Road 6) is a competence of Infraestruturas de Portugal, a public company responsible for the national highway and railroad, and which is under the Ministry of Infrastructures and Housing. So, if the "boss" of the Passeio Marítimo is the current Mayor, Isaltino Morais; the "boss" of the Marginal is Pedro Nuno Santos, the current Minister with that portfolio.

For MUBi, this situation "has never stopped the Oeiras City Council from making intervention plans for Avenida Marginal, the best example being megalomaniac plan to bury that artery at the intersection with the valley of the Ribeira da Laje, between Jardim de Oeiras and the Santo Amaro beach".. On the other hand, the municipality led by Isaltino Morais "it could ask IP to manage Avenida Marginal, just as Cascais has already done for some stretches", under Decree-Law No. 100/2018, of November 28, which establishes the framework for transferring powers to municipal bodies in the field of communication routes.

A bike lane on the Marginal has been one of the most consistent struggles over the years of several people. A Facebook page that was born to claim this very thing is still very active today, even though eight years have passed since the proposal was taken to the Participatory Budget (PB) of the municipality. This proposalwhich was the winner and was presented in the 2014 PB, suggested the construction of a "bike lane on the Marginal (N6) between the junction of the Forte de São Julião da Barra and the access to the Passeio Marítimo da Cruz Quebrada, near the Curva do Mónaco, in Caxias":

"The Oeiras coastline offers unique landscape conditions in the Cascais line, with several places of interest: beaches, gardens and the urban centers of Oeiras, Santo Amaro, Paço de Arcos and Caxias. It is therefore proposed to convert the sea side lane of the Estrada Marginal into a bidirectional bike path between the intersection of Forte de São Julião da Barra (access to the beaches of Carcavelos and Torre) and the access to the promenade of Cruz Quebrada (opposite the I.S.N. and Caxias Scouts). A future cycling network could extend to the Jamor sports complex and along the coast to Algés, and even under the tunnel to C. Quebrada. The sea side is proposed because: there are fewer accesses for cars on this side, being more controlled to avoid conflict situations; ensure direct access to the beaches; and because the bike path acts as a barrier between cars and the sidewalk, improving safety conditions for pedestrians, and the possibility of enjoying the landscape to all."

- Proposal nº 7 of the Participatory Budget (PB) of Oeiras 2014

The proposal presented an estimated cost of 286,000 Euros for the work; the bike path would be 5.8 km long, 2.4 meters wide, and have a 0.6 meter separator.

Lisboa Para Pessoas contacted the Oeiras City Hall through several channels to learn more about their vision for the waterfront, and also about the future of bicycles in the municipality. We also contacted councilwoman Joana Baptista, who is responsible for Mobility. He did not receive any reply. For MUBi, it is essential "create a way for bicyclists to safely circulate on an avenue dominated by motor vehicles at speeds incompatible with an inclusive, quality public space".