The Cascais line will be diverted, as will the Carris streetcar line, and a section of the avenue will be cut off to road traffic. Pedestrian and cycling mobility will also be affected, but they are guaranteed. And trees will be removed.
A small section of Avenida 24 de Julho in the Santos area will be unrecognizable for several months due to the Lisbon Metro expansion works. Work on Lot 2 of the Circular Line contract - corresponding to the construction of Santos station and the tunnel between that station and Cais do Sodré - has already started and, for the time being, there are minor deviations in pedestrian and cycling mobility on Avenida 24 de Julho, but the interference of the work on the site will be significant. Even the Cascais line will be diverted.
The project's impact on the normal life of Avenida 24 de Julho will be resolved by considering three temporal phases (divided into several sub-phases) of traffic detour, with different solutions for each one. In addition to 24 de Julho, Avenida D. Carlos I, Rua D. Luís I, Calçada Ribeiro Santos and the entire area around Santos near Largo Vitorino Damásio will also be affected. Given the importance of all these road, pedestrian and cycling connections, the work and detours were planned so that as few roads as possible were removed, the existing horizontal, vertical and illuminated signage schemes were maintained as much as possible, pedestrian and cycling routes were maintained and no Carris streetcar routes were removed.
Thus, according to Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) documentation for Lot 2 of the Circular Line contractThese will be the constraints:
- will be made a connection of the Carris streetcar lines at the road junction between Avenida 24 de Julho and Calçada Ribeiro Santos (next to Jardim de Santos). This connection - known as the Carris "X" - will allow the 25E line to be diverted from Avenida D. Carlos I to Avenida 24 de Julho;
- will be made a detour of the Cascais railway line and the Carris streetcar line (the 15E line, among others) to the Avenida 24 de Julho road area;
- at In the initial phase, the section of Avenida 24 de Julho affected by the work will be completely closed off to road traffic.The traffic will be diverted to parallel and perpendicular streets, which will be adjusted to receive this traffic. Afterwards, traffic will be returned to 24 de Julho with one lane in each direction in the construction area;
- a pedestrian and cycling traffic in the Avenida 24 de Julho promenade area will be maintained, albeit with conditions.
The detours and alterations on Avenida 24 de Julho are due to the construction of the new Metro tunnel between the future Santos station, which will be further up Avenida Carlos I, and the Cais do Sodré station. This tunnel will be built using two techniques:
- first, between the future station and the crossing of Rua da Esperança, the tunnel will be dug and supported underground with the NATM method (New Austrian Tunneling Method), which has also been used for the tunnel in Lot 1 (corresponding to the connection between Rato and Santos, passing through Estrela);
- then, between that crossing and the end of the Cais do Sodré station tunnel, the the work will be done in the open, with the opening of a trenchThis is why there will be all kinds of restrictions on the 24 de Julho and the surrounding area. The technique will be Cut&Coverallowing the tunnel to be built in phases.
The work will involve the removal of some trees, alterations to the 24 de Julho promenade and the cutting down of part of the avenue's central divider. All these structures will be reinstated as they were upon completion of the work. The detour have already begun to be prepared on site with work on the sidewalk and various markings to allow for future road detour. For now, two detours have been marked for pedestrian and cycle traffic, duly separated from each other.
The President of Metro de Lisboa, Vítor Domingues dos Santos, warned at the ceremony to start work on Lot 2 that this would be the most demanding project of the year. "forcing new schedules, routes and habits". The inauguration of the Circular Line is scheduled for 2024 - it had been announced that it would open in the first quarter of 2024, but the information posted at the Lot 2 construction site in Santos points to the second quarter of that year. What is certain is that the first forecasts pointed to the completion of all the work related to the Circular Line by the end of 2023, beginning of 2024.
The future Santos station will be located next to the old Lisbon Fire Brigade building. A Santos station will have access on Travessa do Pasteleiro and Avenida D. Carlos I, more specifically in the area of the Largo da Esperançawhich will be completely renovated. The main access will be in Largo da Esperança, integrating the fire station elevator. There will also be elevator access to Bairro da Madragoa. At current Cais do Sodré station a new west atrium with new accesses: one outside in the Mercado da Ribeira area, and another with a connection to the Cascais Line.
