Cars will disappear from in front of the Sampaio Garrido school, which will be connected directly to the square. There will be more trees, wider and more comfortable sidewalks, and raised crosswalks, in an intervention that will put walking at the center.
A New Nations Square and Angola Street in Arroioswill be upgraded under the new municipal program There's Life In My NeighborhoodThe idea is to stimulate new centralities in the city and a life of proximity, taking advantage of the "city of 15 minutes" concept. The proposal, presented on Friday, includes cutting off the road in front of the school to connect it to the square, as well as planting new trees and widening the sidewalks.
For these changes to be possible, the Rua de Angola will have a single downward direction for traffic, and Praça das Novas Nações will lose its current circularity. As a result, the main traffic will go from Rua de Cabo Verde, at the top of the square, to Rua de Angola, on the left-hand side of the square. On the other hand, Rua Ilha do Príncipe will only be able to go to Rua de Moçambique, crossing a coexistence zone on the right-hand side. The intervention will not affect the section of Rua de Angola between the junction with Rua Forno do Tijolo and Rua da Guiné, and Rua Almirante Reis, which will remain two-way and will be changed as part of the redevelopment of this avenue.
See before and after pictures here:
The widening of the sidewalks and the planting of trees will benefit the pupils of EB1 Sampaio Garrido, according to a survey organized by the parents' associationis a school where most children walk to schoolThe survey found that 681,000,000 of the children surveyed walk to and from school, with 111,000,000 going alone; only 221,000,000 go by car. In September 2023At the time, the parents and children of EB1 Sampaio Garrido had, together with Lisbon City Council and the Arroios Parish Council, painted the school's surroundings in an attempt to make it safer. At the time, there was a desire for the long-awaited redevelopment of Praça das Novas Nações to move forward in order to remove cars from in front of the school gates and reduce through traffic.
"We have a square right in front of the school. At the end of the day, the kids take ownership of it, but because there's this street separating the school from the square, it seems like two things don't talk to each other. There's no appropriation of this public space by the school"said Vera Higino, representative of the parents' association, in September. The project within the There's Life In My Neighborhood now responds to the concerns of the school community, but also of the community. As part of a Participatory Budget (PB) and funding under the BIP/ZIP program, the cooperatives Trabalhar Com Os 99% and Largo Residências worked with the local community in 2018/19 on a proposal to redevelop Praça das Novas Nações.
Praça das Novas Nações is a key public space in the Anjos area; although it is in a high state of disrepair and abandonment, this square is a point of reference with constant movement, occupation and life for the neighborhood's population and the children of Sampaio Garrido. The proposal now being put forward by Lisbon City Council is a little different from the cooperatives' idea, which proposed putting the square up against both the school and the buildings on the right-hand side, blocking the connection between Ilha do Príncipe and Mozambique streets; the municipality has countered with a coexistence zone, where pedestrians have priority but cars can cross, instead of this total cut-off.
According to the public presentation of the proposal, held this Friday at the Dona Luísa de Gusmão Secondary School, the aim is to "ensure safe access on foot to nearby facilities and services; improve the connection between different activities and urban spaces, favoring walking; promote traffic calming by re-profiling roads, reorganizing parking and increasing pedestrian space; requalify public space, improving sidewalks and introducing accessible crosswalks; create thermal comfort through afforestation; and promote conviviality between residents and the school community, increasing the space for living, leisure and meeting".
After the works, Rua de Angola will have 12 new trees, whereas it currently has zero; raised crosswalks at the junction with Rua do Zaire; and an increase in the number of car parking spaces from 26 to 33, safeguarding local needs in this respect too, since there will no longer be any parking options in Praça das Novas Nações - there will only be one place for passengers to pick up and set down quickly.
The redevelopment of Praça das Novas Nações is due to go ahead in the first half of 2025The implementation project should be ready next July. This project is one of 24 pilot projects that will be developed in the context of the There's Life In My Neighborhoodone for each parish, with the aim of enhancing the surroundings of schools, shopping streets and squares.
