Controversial bike lane on Avenida de Berna to be profoundly changed

The bicycle path on Avenida de Berna will same be changed and it will be done in two stages. The Lisbon City Hall and EMEL will change the configuration of the cycling corridor in that axis, which connects Praça de Espanha to Avenida da República, responding not only to a petition with about 270 signatures that reached the Municipal Assembly last yearAs well as the will of the new Junta de Freguesia of Avenidas Novas.

Later this year, an "intermediate solution" will be implemented that will include elimination of the existing one-way cycle lanes between Largo Azeredo Perdigão - before college and church - and Avenida da República. The plan is to keep what exists between the square and Praça de Espanha, but direct cycling traffic after Gulbenkian into the neighborhood, through the 30+bike corridor from Avenida Elias Garcia to Avenida da República. So, of the three large blocks on Avenida de Berna, only one will continue to have a bicycle lane - the Praça de Espanha/Gulbenkian block.

This "intermediate solution" will be implemented while a "definitive solution" is developed for 2024, as the municipality told LPP. "At the request of the Parish Council [of Avenidas Novas], a preliminary study was developed by the Municipal Mobility Department for a definitive solution to alter the solution currently implemented. Once the preliminary study solution was approved by the vice-president of the Lisbon City Hall, it was sent to EMEL to develop the execution project, which is expected to be ready next year".explained the Chamber. "In the meantime, until the definitive solution is implemented, consideration is being given to implementing an intermediate solution later this year."the municipality added, substantiating that this solution "provides for maintaining the current solution between Praça de Espanha and Largo Azeredo Perdigão, and from there on 30+bicycle through the neighborhood (Largo Azeredo Perdigão/Avenida Elias Garcia) to Avenida da República".

Recall that late last year, A petition with 271 signatures contesting the bike path to be implemented in 2021 on Avenida de Berna had entered the Lisbon Municipal Assembly. In the discussion of the document, the petitioners asked, before the municipal deputies, a "compromise solution" with the maintenance of the cycling channel precisely between Praça de Espanha and the church, and, at this point, its deviation into the neighborhood. At this point, the new President of the Junta de Freguesia of Avenidas Novas, Daniel Gonçalves, elected by the coalition New Timeshad declared himself to be "totally against the bike lane on Avenida de Berna, because that was badly done".

The Chamber seems to have accepted the petitioners' proposal, since it is precisely the ready-made design that it will implement as "middle ground" - an intervention that "implies less physical work" than the future definitive solution and will therefore be quick to execute.

The changes to the cycling network on Avenida de Berna are expected to have a residual impactThe canal has never become particularly attractive for bicycle and scooter users. Data from the two counters installed thereone in each direction, show a low utilization of the axis in comparison, for example, with the parallel route of Avenida Duque d'Ávila. Around 400-500 bicycles per day will pass through the Avenida de Berna bicycle path, while the Duque d'Ávila will circulate 900-1200 per day. A low popularity of Bern Avenue can be explained by the abusive car parking which is often the case on top of the unidirectional tracksas well as by the constant interruptions of the cycling channel when bicycles intersect with cars or pedestrians.

Seven bicycle paths ready, in the drawer

There is no doubt that, as usual in political cycles that seek a break, the change of city council in October 2021 led to a new mobility policy in the city and, in particular, to a slowdown in the expansion of the cycling network that was planned by the previous executive (and which consisted of about 200 kilometers). Under Moedas' management, Lisbon City Hall is now evaluate the pre-existing network expansion planwith the help of an independent audit, which is already underway. But in the meantime, in the drawer of EMEL - the municipal company that since 2018/19 has been responsible for the implementation of the cycling network - there are seven bicycle path projects that are ready and only "awaiting nomination" to be able to move forward to the construction phase.

The bicycle path in Avenida Professor Egas Monizthe completion of the bicycle path on the Padua Avenue and the cyclopedestrian bridge at Almirante Gago Coutinho Avenue are three of those seven projects that just need an OK. And, according to EMEL's Activity Plan and Budget for 2023These three bike paths were to be built this year, because the respective contracts had already been awarded. "the company will continue with projects that have already been committed or awarded", wrote EMEL in its annual plan.

LPP asked EMEL and the Lisbon City Council for a more concrete status on these three cycle paths. The local authority replied that the solution for the Egas Moniz "is pending a performance review that has already been requested"that the cyclopedestrian bridge awaits "Court of Auditors' approval to start the work".and that second phase of the cycling corridor on Avenida de Pádua "its execution is not considered for this year because it does not have the favorable opinion of the Parish Council and it was not identified as a priority".. On this avenue, the municipality awaits the "outcome of the bike lanes audit to assess whether the solution should go forward or should be revised instead".

O project for Avenida Prof. Egas Moniz that is awaiting "a performance review" will be different from the one that was originally presented in the public tender for this project - and was not disclosed to LPP. In any case, this bike path will connect the existing bike paths on Avenida Lusíada and Avenida dos Combatentes, and connect them to the University Stadium, solving a discontinuity of the network in this location. As for second phase of the bicycle path on Avenida de Pádua would allow the two existing one-way lanes on that axis to be extended, connecting them to a section of bike path that connects with Berlin Avenue and Gare do Orienteand solving another discontinuity. For its part, the Cyclopedestrian bridge on Gago Coutinho is a project that, for pedestrians and cyclists, will help overcome a gap between those coming from Avenida do Brasil and those heading to Olivais/Bela Vista, through the vineyards, and will also consist of a green bridge with trees and a garden.

Discontinuities at Parque das Nações

In the drawer of projects awaiting OK, are also a bicycle path on the Avenida Fernando Pessoa (which will connect the routes of Alameda dos Oceanos and Avenida Marechal Gomes da Costa, solving a discontinuity); two one-way lanes on César de Oliveira Streetin Lumiar; a bicycle path in Lumiar Calhariz Roadin Benfica; and also an extension of the Berlin Avenue (Note that, in 2021, public tenders were underway for two of the aforementioned bike paths, Rua César de Oliveira and Estrada do Calhariz, but were abandoned and not re-launched).

LPP asked the Lisbon City Council if any of the bike paths planned for Parque das Nações would go ahead due to the World Youth Day (WYD). The municipality clarified that the Avenida Fernando Pessoa "already has a favorable opinion" of the Parish Council and that it is expected that "the work will move forward this year".It is unknown whether it is still in time for WYD. About the resolution of the discontinuity between Avenida de Berlim and Alameda dos Oceanos, the City Council said that "is not contemplated" for now. But he said in advance that "a solution to a network disruption already identified a few years ago is in the works" in Parque das Nações: it is the bike path of the Sea Heroes PromenadeIt will connect to the Trancão cyclopedestrian bridge, which currently ends at Chen He Street. "The section of bike path that is in project will connect Chen He Street, through the Sea Heroes' Promenade, to Prince of Monaco Street and later to Alameda dos Oceanos"the municipality said, not mentioning timings nor whether the section will be built for WYD.

So, in summary:

Waiting for the audit

A status report on the expansion of Lisbon's cycling network was recently discussed in a town hall meeting and in the Municipal Assembly (AML)at the time of yet another rescheduling of the contract between the municipality and EMEL for the execution of bicycle paths. This contract concerned the period 2020-2022, but, in May 2021It had already been extended until the end of this year, 2023. It has now been extended by the end of 2025. It is the second contract of its kind between the Lisbon City Hall and the municipal mobility company; the first one was concluded for the period 2019-2020, when the local authority delegated for the first time to EMEL competencies for the construction of bike lanes and paths.

At AML, Vice President Filipe Anacoreta Correia, who is responsible for both Finance and Mobility in the municipality, explained that "this executive never said it wasn't going to make more bike paths. We never said, nor did President Carlos moedas ever say - not even as a candidate - that he was against bike paths. We are against unsafe bike lanes, which raise problems".. Therefore, for Anacoreta Correia, it is important to have a study of the network that has been built so far and the one that was planned before going ahead with more works. "That audit is contracted, it has an eight-month deadline, but as of the fourth month, results of some piecemeal audits can already be released. Based on them, we will be in a position to reassess investments and guidelines for new projects."

The audit requested by the Lisbon City Hall to evaluate the existing cycling network, analyze intersections and identify sections to be improved. In this work, a prioritization of the improvements to be made will be done, "based on an assessment of the problems and how easy it is to make improvements"as revealed by the Municipal Mobility Department in a conference earlier this year. Remember that the Almirante Reis axis will be the target of a separate audit by LNEC.

Before the municipal deputies, Anacoreta Correia stated that "in 2020 and 2021, the execution [of the bikeways contract] was very low" and that in the very first year "it was realized that it was not possible to do everything that was planned". In fact, the first version of the contract called for 12.1 million euros of investment in bicycle paths in 2020, 11.2 million the following year, and 4.2 million the year after that - values that were revised downwards at the very beginning of 2021, after the execution in 2020 was only 3.21%. With this first rescheduling, which also extended the contract term, the year 2021 now has 10 million euros of planned investment in bike paths, nine million for 2022, and 8.1 million for 2023.

The rescheduling now approved coincides with the end of Moedas current term in office (2025) and maintains, at least until then, all of the funds in the original contract captive for investments in bike paths - although there are new deadlines and changes to the annual amounts, the "cake" remains unchanged and EMEL will not be able to use these euros for other investments. According to the new contract amendment, 7.062 million euros are budgeted for cycling routes for 2023; for 2024 it is 4.635 million and for 2025 it is 4.254 million. "We don't feel the pressure from others to introduce bike lanes to the subway, to make bike lanes in a hurry for international reports. We wish to create conditions for soft mobility, and we are working on that. The audit will allow us to re-evaluate [the expansion], but since there are already projects that are approved and do not raise major questions, nothing prevents us from advancing punctually and judiciously“clarified the Vice President.

For Paulo Muacho, municipal deputy for the Free Party, the values now presented reveal "lack of vision of ambition" and a "complete stagnation" of the new executive in relation to soft mobility, lamenting the projects in a drawer. António Valente, from PAN, hopes that "the announced audit may clarify the reason for the successive delays and such low execution rates". For Rodrigo Mello Gonçalves, from IL, "bike paths have to be planned and the impacts they cause have to be taken care of".. Luís Coelho, from the PS, criticized the "slow pace that the current executive and the tutelage EMEL have put in the concretization of the projects that were in course"but stressed that with the new rescheduling, "EMEL will continue to have the conditions for the successful completion of the contract started in 2020 and ending in 2025, despite the few projects of its own initiative that are spread out there". The socialist deputy added that "for us it will matter much more about the future and how this contract will end. We will all be here in 2025 to do that political analysis.".

In the following table, you can see the investments foreseen in the current contract between the Lisbon City Hall and EMEL, which has now been rescheduled:

Here below, you can see a summary of the execution of the 2019-2020 bikeways contract and also information about the current contract (2020-2022):

Grade: LPP has contacted the Avenidas Novas Parish Council, but has not received any response from them, but will update this article if new information arrives.