To organize the parking, EMEL will reduce the sidewalk currently occupied by cars. Some residents objected to such a drastic reduction, which would leave only 1.20 meters for pedestrians. The project was revised and the works resumed.
From one day to the next, Joaquim Claro and his neighbors on General Justino Padrel Street, in the parish of São Vicente, saw construction work being started on their doorstep. Workers and machines appeared; and, suddenly, the A three-meter long sidewalk - but almost all of it unduly occupied by cars - was being reduced to about 1.20 meters.
General Justino Padrel Street integrates with three other contiguous streets - Calçada dos Barbadinhos, Rua Barão Monte Pedral and Rua Álvares Fagundes - in a EMEL's contract for parking and public space management in the parish of São Vicente. In a written information published on May 24 on the municipal company's websiteis announced "creation of 299 regulated parking spaces" and the start of work the following week, on May 30, with an expected duration of three months. "This intervention aims to preserve parking for residents, improve mobility and parking conditions, and organize the stay of visitors." EMEL does not explain on its website the work in detail, nor has it published any plans of the changes that would be made.
Despite the scarce information available online, Joaquim Claro, 74, assures Lisboa Para Pessoas that EMEL's work on his street was started without any communication to the residents. "No one warned of anything"he claims, mentioning that he knew everything "by the people who were working on the construction site". An apparent reduction of pedestrian space was what caused Joaquim the most surprise, who quickly turned to Facebook to denounce the situation and mobilize the neighborhood. They quickly started a petition that, between online and offline, gathered "one hundred and something signatures". “We managed to get someone to get our petition to EMEL. e, "as soon as they became aware" of the same, they stopped the work, Joaquim reports. Work began on May 30 and was suspended the very next day.
In the petition, to which Lisboa Para Pessoas had access, the protesters identified as "St. Vincent residents" questioned the "reduction of the sidewalks on both sides, whose width at the moment, at its minimum quota, is 3.50 meters" and that they would have "a width of 1.20 meters". They further wrote that, "considering that at several points there are service boxes of the electricity and communications companies, that after 6 pm the urban waste containers can be placed at the doors of the buildings and, furthermore, that the parked cars, when they put their rear wheels against the kerb, will invade between 20 and 30 cm of the sidewalks, their useful space will not allow the pedestrian circulation of people with reduced mobility, baby strollers and wheelchairs, with the safety that common sense advises".
O Public Space Manual (2018) of the Lisbon City Council itself sets 1.50 meters as the minimum width for sidewalks - it allows two people to cross each other but also allows the route to be accessible. In fact, a 1.20-meter wide sidewalk would be cramped for people in wheelchairs, and all it would take is one small obstacle - such as a trash can or even a car parked in front of the sidewalk - to get blocked. According to the same document, "many pedestrians carry personal items and usually prefer not to have physical contact with other pedestrians" e, "for people in wheelchairs or who need other auxiliary means to move around, it is necessary to guarantee a minimum space to ensure their mobility".
On June 4, the São Vicente Left Bloc group, having learned of the case, made a visit to the works on General Justiniano Padrel Street. On Facebookwrote that "it was clear that the design did not take into consideration the minimum space needed for pedestrian circulation, drastically reducing the sidewalk space that existed". "The residents do not disagree with the completion of the work, but rather, with the way it is being carried out. The area lacks parking organization, but it is not necessary to harm the pedestrian circulation in such a way since the street is wide enough to accommodate both"added the bloquists. "Organized parking options need to be found for residents in the Santa Engrácia neighborhood and St. Vincent parish, but not by reducing sidewalks to a level that limits people's movement. This entire area bordering the parish, with immense potential, is neglected."
The project was revised and work resumed earlier this week. "We got another 50 centimeters of sidewalk"Joaquim says, so, all in all, he will be about 1.70 meters tall. To Lisboa Para Pessoas, EMEL confirmed the restart of the intervention and the project was changed "to address residents' concerns" - is now "planned to widen the sidewalk near technical cabinets, fire hydrants and lampposts, so that there is always a free width of 1.50 meters for pedestrians"the company reports.
In a clarification request to Lisboa Para Pessoas, EMEL said that they are 195 parking spaces are planned for that streetThere will also be a lowering of the sidewalks and the introduction of tactile sidewalk in the crosswalk area, and access ramps will be placed in front of the building entrances in order to guarantee accessibility and at the same time avoid undue parking. General Justino Padrel Street will be much better than it is today: a street with disorganized parking on the sidewalk, despite the excessive width of the street. Reducing the width of the street to its "minimum dimension" in light of the regulations and the reduction also of the sidewalks will make it possible to balance different desires and wishes, reconciling pedestrian mobility with the parking needs that a residential area in Lisbon normally implies.
Joaquim is wary of EMEL's arrival in his parish, and believes that there should be no charged parking in residential neighborhoods. "I accept EMEL on Avenida da Liberdade, Rossio or Avenida da República, for example. But it shouldn't be in residential areas." While Joaquim will now be entitled to a free resident permit, allowing him to continue to park his car on the street without paying, the same does not apply to his children. "This is an area with an aging population, I am 74 years old, and if my children come to visit, they will have to pay for parking"he points out. This is a recurring concern; the area where Joaquim lives is not one of the ones with the best public transportation.
The intervention in Rua General Justino Padrel and the remaining streets is only expected to be ready in October, EMEL now informs. But the centimeters that the residents gained on the sidewalks are an important achievement for the neighborhood and for the city, showing that citizen participation is important and that, once again, all the confusion that was generated - although resolved in a short time - could have been avoided if the work had been presented in detail to the people, for example.
Right next to Rua General Justino Padrel is the Rosa Lobato Faria Elementary School, which has recently seen its surroundings reclassified. Fathers, mothers, and children have gained a wide sidewalk in front of the gate, a narrower street, a raised crosswalk, and an end to abusive parking on the sidewalk. Joaquim likes the intervention overall, but questions, for example, the wide pedestrian area created in front of the school. He says that "is of no use at all" and I wish they had been put there, for example, "those modern ecopoints that are now in use" (there are ecopoints on the school street but more "down there"and had to come down with the bags). It also mentions that parts were left on the school street without any work and with the sidewalk "all bumpy". Joaquim also hopes that the trees that will be planted in the new boilers next to the school will be small "because of the view of the Tagus, which you don't want to miss".
