Lisbon closes six school fronts to cars once a week

Six schools located in Areeiro, Alvalade and Olivais have their streets temporarily closed to car traffic and transformed into pedestrian and cycling areas during the early hours of the morning, once a week. This initiative, called "Mexe-te Pela Tua Cidade", is being promoted once again by the Lisbon City Council, after a brief interruption.

In the neighborhood of Arco do Cego, in Areeiro, it was already usual for the closure of several streets around the D. Filipa de Lencastre School Group to cars. Once a week, for a few hours in the morning, the schools in the neighborhood were made accessible by foot, bicycle or other means. The initiative, part of the municipal program Move Around Your Citywas interrupted, but has now resumed with five more school groups and five school fronts.

In addition to Agrupamento de Escolas D. Filipa de Lencastre, the program Move Around Your City is now active at ES Padre António Vieira, in Alvalade, and at four schools in Olivais: EB+JI Arco-Íris, EB+JI Adriano Correia de Oliveira, EB Sarah Afonso and EB das Piscinas. Once a week, for a few hours, these six school fronts are without cars. They become pedestrian and cycling spaceswhere access is only possible on foot or by bicycle, skateboardskates or scooters.

BICI initiative

Some cuts are made at small dead ends, i.e. dead-end streets or road redundancies, where parents usually stop their cars to drop their children off right outside the school. Other cuts affect several streets, such as Agrupamento de Escolas D. Filipa de Lencastre, where a large part of the Arco do Cego neighborhood is restricted to traffic. Access is always guaranteed to residents, people with reduced mobility and emergency vehiclesThis coordination was carried out on the spot by municipal police officers.

According to the Lisbon City Council, the Move Around Your City é "a traffic calming measure that takes place around the school, which allows children to walk safely, actively and sustainably, contributing to a reduction in noise and air pollution levels around the school, as well as contributing to students' physical activity".

The rebirth of Move Around Your City coincides with Lisbon's participation in the Bloomberg Initiative for Cycling Infrastructure (BICI)BICI is a program through which the city will invest 2.4 million euros in connecting 20 schools to the cycling network, through new protected and safe sections of cycle path. ES Padre António Vieira, in Alvalade, and EB das Piscinas, in Olivais, are two of the schools that are taking part in BICI and will have cycle paths right outside their doors.