Avenida Álvaro Pais will now have two lanes per direction (except in some sections) and receive two one-way cycle lanes.
Project from April 2021, can now come off the drawing board. EMEL has opened a public tender for the construction of a section of cycle path on Avenida Álvaro Pais, with the base price of 600 thousand euros. The project foresees the creation of two one-way cycle lanes along the avenue, where several affordable housing developments have been emerging and where the future headquarters of the insurance company Fidelidade, which wants to leave downtown, will be located.
In the downward direction, the cycle path starts at Avenida das Forças Armadas - where, incidentally, it is prepared to follow Avenida Gama Pinto, in the direction of Cidade Universitária and the already announced and planned cycle path on Avenida Egas Moniz. It descends along Avenida Álvaro, running along the edges of the Rêgo neighborhood (where there are already several 30+bike axes) and the future Fidelidade headquarters, until it meets Avenida 5 de Outubro. Here there is a direct connection to the Entrecampos train station and an indirect one to Avenida da República; and other connections are left in case 5 de Outubro ever becomes a cyclable avenue (it is planned to turn the rightmost lane, in each direction, into a shared 30+bike lane). On the uphill side, the lane gives access to the various affordable housing units, some of which have been built with their own bicycle garages. Along Avenida Álvaro Pais, there are several cycle crossings that allow you to cycle between one side of the road and the other.
For the implementation of the two one-way lanes, the Avenida Álvaro Pais - which is about 704 meters long - will now have two lanes in each direction (it currently has three); the exception is on the approach to Avenida 5 de Outubro, where in the downhill direction three lanes are left with the elimination of parking space in favor of the cycle channel. The standard profile of Álvaro Pais will be as follows:
- two unidirectional cycle tracks, 1.70 meters wide, implemented between the parking lot and the pedestrian zone;
- a one-way cycle lane buffer strip, 0.50 to 0.80 meters wide, adjacent to parking areas;
- sidewalks varying in width between 2 and 3 meters;
- a 6 meter wide central divider, tree-lined in some sections;
- two 6.50-meter-wide carriageways, each accommodating two lanes of traffic;
- a regulated longitudinal parking zone, 2 meters wide, on the right side of each lane.
At the intersection of Avenida Álvaro Pais and Avenida das Forças Armadas, there will be road calming and safety measures near the current pedestrian crossings that will also be cycled. There will be the introduction of traffic lights and non-slip flooring, as well as the raising of at least one crossing, as it is considered the most critical. Throughout the intervention, there will be measures at the level of pedestrian accessibility, with the lowering of sidewalks next to crosswalks, the placement of tactile flooring for people with reduced mobility, the elimination of barriers such as stairs or the installation of islets so that pedestrians cross in two times.
In the project it is contemplated the redefinition of parking on the right side of Rua Lyon de Castro, towards Avenida Álvaro Pais, replacing longitudinal parking with oblique parking.This will increase the number of seats and compensate for the drop in supply that is planned next to the Marconi building. A GIRA station with capacity for 20 bicycles is planned to be installed hereas well as a large motorcycle park with a capacity for 20 two-wheelers.
To carry out this project, EMEL has a public tender open until August 17, looking for construction companies that can execute the project. The base price is 600,000 euros, which is the maximum amount that the municipal mobility company expects to spend on this intervention. EMEL has other bike lane projects underway: the one in the Avenida Egas Moniz "is pending a performance review which has already been requested"; a cycle bridge under Avenida Almirante Gago Coutinho awaits "approval from the Court of Auditors to start the work"; the bicycle lane in the Avenida Fernando Pessoa - to resolve an existing discontinuity between Alameda dos Oceanos and Avenida Marechal Gomes da Costa -. can "moving forward later this year"; and the cycle path on the Promenade of the Heroes of the SeaThe road, which connects to the Trancão cycle bridge and currently ends at Rua Chen He, is to be extended via Rua Príncipe do Monaco to Alameda dos Oceanos. In parallel, within the scope of the requalification of Praça Marechal Humberto Delgado (Sete Rios)A section of cycle path is being created; and between the Gulbenkian expansion and the new Largo de São Sebastião, a cycle network improvement is also being prepared on Rua Marquês da Fronteira, near El Corte Inglés.
