The assembling and disassembling of Rock In Rio Lisboa blocked access to Parque da Bela Vista for over a month. The interruption will only be solved next week, but CML guarantees that it will not happen again.
In 2018, at the last edition of Rock In Rio in Lisbon, the boom of cycling in the Portuguese capital was still in its infancy. Therefore, the closure of Parque da Bela Vista for the assembly, realization and disassembly of the festival, will have gone unnoticed. Four years on, it hasn't quite turned out that way, with several bike users protesting on social media against the closure for more than a month of the important cycle path that runs through that urban park.
The Bela Vista Park is, for lack of a safe alternative both on Avenida Almirante Gago Coutinho and on other roads, the best way to go from Olivais to Areeiro, or vice versa. The expansion of the cycling network over the last four years in Lisbon, as well as the construction of new urban parks, such as Vale da Montanha, have reinforced the relevance of Bela Vista as a crossing point. For example, those coming from Olivais can use the Parque da Bela Vista to cross to Olaias, following the recent cycle path on Avenida Afonso Costa to Areeiro, then taking the cycle path on Avenida Almirante Reis towards Arroios or another cycle path towards Avenidas Novas. With Parque da Bela Vista closed, the safe and segregated alternative would be a ride along Avenida do Brasil, Campo Grande and Avenida da República.
The return of Rock In Rio (RiR) to the city of Lisbon has disrupted the Bela Vista Park for over a month. At the time of writing, dismantling of the festival that ended two weeks ago is still underway and the park remains off-limits. If the interruption of the cycling connection in Bela Vista during the two weekends of the event seems acceptable, more than that will be a nuisance. And Lisbon City Hall seems to agree. In response to an inquiry from Livre on the subject, the office of Councillor Ângelo Pereira, responsible for the mobility portfolio, indicated - in a clarification to which Lisboa Para Pessoas had access - that "the dismantling of the 1st crown of RiR 2022 is being finalized and, according to the established planning, next week the cycling connection will already be available for public enjoyment".
"As for future editions of RiR and other uses of Parque da Bela Vista, it is the intention of CML that this cycling connection is guaranteed", also informed the Office of the Councillor for Mobility, adding that under the new Protocol between the Lisbon City Council and the RiR organization for future editions of the festival "it should be expressly stated that the interruption of the cycle route may only occur on the days of the event". "It should be noted that this issue has never been addressed before under previous Protocols", says Ângelo Pereira's office. "However, this issue will be taken care of for the realization of Kalorama, by determination of CML."
O MEO Kalorama is a new festival that will debut in Lisbon in September (days 1, 2 and 3), precisely in Parque da Bela Vista. "In the Kalorama assembly plan, instructions were given by DMAEVCE [Municipal Directorate for Environment, Green Structure, Climate and Energy] that the cycle path should remain open, so a corridor will be created for this purpose during the assembly and disassembly periods. Thus, this cycling connection will only be interrupted on the 3 days of the event."
A notice at the various entrances to the park and the closed railings surprised several bike users at the beginning of June. Only the southern section of Parque da Bela Vista remains open, but without the northern area it is useless as crossing is not possible. The outage will be resolved next week, which means that in total it will last almost two months. In the same notice - which has a direct message to use the park only as a leisure facility and not as a utility infrastructure - no information was given about the duration of the closure.
