Beato asks for the integration of the parish in the city's mobility solutions

GIRA stations, cycle paths, more Carris service, more parking areas and pedestrian accessibility. The Mayor of Beato is asking the council to integrate the parish into the city. "Often, even though we're inside Lisbon, it feels like we're in a separate city," said Silvino Correia at the AML. PCP recalls the closed railway...

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In the old halt at Chelas, in the parish of Beato, the trains pass but do not stop. It is like this since 2015, when this railway interface no longer has passenger service. At the time, this halt only had the Azambuja Line trains opening doors, still allowing the Beato population to quickly reach central parts of the city like Alvalade or Entrecampos, but also more peripheral parts like Oriente, Alcântara or even Benfica.

In 2015, the Junta de Freguesia do Beato contested the closure of the Chelas railway halt, whose degradation has been increasing with time. This infrastructure was the subject of the plenary session of the Lisbon Municipal Assembly (AML) last Tuesday, February 28, in a brief discussion on mobility in Beato. "The parish of Beato is crossed by a railroad line, the Belt Line, which had a stop working and served at least many hundreds of people. It was wrong"recalled Fernando Correia, municipal deputy from the PCP. "So there is no longer this important communication route, which is a kind of CRIL - a train line around the city that allows connections with the subway and with other stations."

[Note: the Linha de Cintura is a train line that encircles the city of Lisbon, connecting its main train stations and functioning as a fifth metro line. The Linha de Cintura does not exist in CP's communication, which prefers to talk about Sintra Line and Azambuja Line. You can read more about this topic here.]

The Government and its Infraestruturas de Portugal (IP) plans are to create a new Chelas/Olaias train stationwith direct connection to the Olaias subway station. Silvino Correia (PS), current President of Junta de Freguesia do Beato, is waiting with "some expectation" the materialization of this project, which "it will certainly bring an addition to mobility in the parish because this new station will have a direct connection to the Red Line of the subway". The issue of the Chelas wharf was not included by Silvino in the recommendation addressed to the Lisbon City Council and that he took to the AML for discussion and voting. But it could be. And in Fernando Correia's opinion "should be"to pressure the municipality to question the government - responsible for the railroad - about this matter.

The text of the recommendation, signed by the President of the Board of Beato and the leader of the PS municipal bench, Manuel Lage, talks about mobility and parking in Beato. The problem arises in a context of "important growth" of the parish, verified "in recent times" and that it has had "as a catalyst for investments made in the territory through the real estate sector"with the rehabilitation of buildings, the construction of the Beato Creative Hub or the implementation of artists' workshops - described Silvino Correia. The President of Junta do Beato also pointed out the "new start-up households" and the need to, therefore, "tailoring the territory".

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Mentioning planned investments, such as growths and a new health center that should "serving 16 thousand users"as well as the Beato Creative Hub itself, which should capture "up to three thousand jobs"Silvino Correia said it was necessary "make sure there are parking areas, accesses for soft mobility, installation of GIRA network stations, review Carris routes and tracks, and create adequate pedestrian accessibilities".. About the Creative Hub, he asked about the parking silo planned for Maintenance Street "with capacity for 300 vehicles" and that provides for "creation of a plaza, with a viewpoint and a playground on its upper part". Silvino asked about LIOS Orientalthe surface light rail planned to connect Santa Apolónia and Sacavém, passing through Avenida Infante Dom Henrique and the parish ("it was important that this infrastructure had some developments"); and also about smooth mobility. "The bet on soft mobility has to be a permanent bet and one that gives continuity to the construction of bike paths and pedestrian spaces, which strengthen the connection of the interior of the parish to the riverside area, in order to ensure a better experience of the territory."

"It is important to plan in advance and ensure that the growing traffic constraints we have seen in the city of Lisbon are not repeated in this area".said the mayor. Another point raised by the Mayor of Beato is related to "the implementation of the connection of Picheleira [Olaias] to Estrada de Chelas, reformulating the old Rua do Sol, allowing an internal road connection in the parish. The City Hall has already carried out a study that, it seems, was abandoned".. "What we decide today, what we do today [in Beato], will imply a lot in this territory. We know that it is a territory with problems, we know how to identify them. There is no turning back here".he added, in an appeal to the Lisbon City Councilors present at that AML session. "The population of Beato has suffered for many decades with this internal isolation and many times, although we are inside Lisbon, it seems that we are in a city apart. I ask you to make the parish of Beato an integral part of the city."

The recommendation, signed by Silvino Correia and the PS bench, and divided into four points addressed to the City Council, was approved by a majority of the municipal deputies. Points one and three, about parking, received unanimous support. Point two, on the need to conduct traffic studies, was abstained by the CDS. Finally, point four, on the inclusion of the parish in the bicycle path network and in the GIRA network, had the PSD abstention next to Chega. "Beato has only one bike path, which is the bike path that passes by Infante Dom Henrique [riverside avenue], which has no crossing to the interior of the parish and has never been entitled to a GIRA station. The GIRA network extends from the city center to Parque das Nações, but Beato has never had access to a station"Fernando Correia, deputy from the PCP, also commented.

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To Correia, "the spirit of Expo, which was to irradiate the entire eastern zone of Lisbon, never came down to Beato".. The communist deputy also pointed out that "The population of Beato also needs a reinforcement of Carris lines. The information that is coming to us is that at night, weekends and in certain areas of the parish, namely Estrada de Chelas and Quinta do Ourives, this lack is notorious. I believe that it could also be contemplated in this PS recommendation. But in general we agree with the proposals presented and we will vote in favor.". Also Margarida Penedo, from CDSspoke about Beato, asking that the mobility network of the parish "it becomes appropriate to the evolution of what has happened in that piece of the city in recent years". He pointed out that the socialists' proposal "it is a proposal with legitimate requests" and highlighted Silvino Correia as "a person who is knowledgeable about his parish, politically balanced, and who is right in what he says", justifying the Christian Democrats' vote in favor.

In response to Fernando Correia, the President of the Junta do Beato highlighted the involvement of the local executive in the "design and realization of the Beato's Neighborhood Railway, the 34B"which was launched at "to do the whole Chelas Road area, which was only served by the 794 route", and which was then changed to "was inside the Quinta dos Ourives, which they considered impossible; but today the career is there".. He also pointed out the "change more recently to put the 34B serving the population next to the Bela Vista building where a Citizen's Store is located".

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