By the end of this year, Avenida Almirante Gago Coutinho will have a new overpass for pedestrians and cyclists, located next to the Rotunda do Relógio. This structure, planned since 2021, will connect the surrounding green spaces and will be embellished with the planting of trees, vines and shrubs.
EMEL has started construction of the promised cycle-pedestrian bridge over Avenida Almirante Gago Coutinho, near the Rotunda do Relógio (Clock Roundabout). The new bridge, the construction of which has been awarded since 2021 and which therefore starts with three years lateIt will replace an old structure on the site and provide a level connection between the cycle paths on Avenida do Brasil, in Alvalade, and Bela Vista, which provides access to the parishes of Marvila and Olivais.
With this new bridge, it will also be possible to establish continuity in the city's green structureThere is also a direct cycle-pedestrian connection between José Gomes Ferreira Park (Mata de Alvalade), Parque da Vinha and Parque da Bela Vista.
The bridge will be more than a cycle path. It will be a naturalized overpass104.80 meters long, which will incorporate a green belt with trees and bushes. This vegetation treatment will allow the bridge to be an extension of the adjacent green areas, while at the same time completing the network of pedestrian and cycling routes, promoting the connection between the central axis of the city (Alvalade and Campo Grande) with the eastern part of Lisbon, more specifically Marvila, Olivais and also Parque das Nações.
According to the project description, which you can consult at the end of the article, the new overpass under Avenida Almirante Gago Coutinho will have small-medium sized trees, vines and shrubs, allowing the "extension of adjacent green areas". "It is a typological option that has been adopted to give continuity to green routes and corridors integrated into urban networks, in situations where there are obstacles to mobility that are difficult to overcome using pedestrians or other soft modes of travel."the document reads. For planting on the bridge to be feasible, there is expected to be a moat of about two meters of vegetal earth. In this upper structure, the green area will promote a separation between pedestrian and cycling circuits, each of which should have a minimum width of 2.20 meters.
This investment will be worth approximately 2.5 million euros and the duration of the work is estimated at 12 months, with completion expected by the end of this year. The start of the work involved the closure of the section of cycle path linking Avenida do Brasil to Bela Vista. As an alternative, the Avenida Marechal Gomes da Costa cycle path or the Avenida Cidade do Porto cycle path are suggested, depending on the destination.
The work includes an intervention in the existing cycling network with its repainting in shades of green. On the Bela Vista/Parque da Vinha side, a pedestrian zone will be created along the cycle path, but only in the first few meters (it is planned to extend this path to Rua Pardal Monteiro in a future project).. Also on this side, new pedestrian paths will be created between the bridge and the lower part (avenue/roundabout).
As part of the BICI project, financed by BloombergThe Lisbon City Council is working on a redesign of the cycling network at the Rotunda do Relógioto solve the discontinuities between the different cycle paths (Avenida do Brasil, Avenida Cidade do Porto and Avenida Marechal Gomes da Costa). Meanwhile, in the drawer of the municipality is the project for a cycle network along the whole of Avenida Almirante Gago Coutinho, where two one-way lanes are planned between Aeroporto and Areeiro at sidewalk level.
