Sidewalk reduced for parking? Neighbors ask for trees and a space to socialize

The street of the iconic Hillclimb is being upgraded since September; this is a small intervention to improve pedestrian accessibility. Mixed paving is being laid - that is, limestone stones mixed with granite stones - to make it easier for shoes to grip the sidewalk and prevent falls; crosswalks are being lowered and guides for the blind are being put in place; but part of the sidewalk is also being reduced to increase the amount of parking available. Three new places are being created in a part where the large pedestrian area allowed it; a group of residents and neighbors of that street mobilized in a petition to contest the work.

Rosa Gomes, 70-something, resident of Rua do Vale de Santo António, is concerned about the construction work that is being carried out by the São Vicente Parish Council (PS) with funding from the City Council. September 29th, went to the Parish Assembly ask "if there was no tree that could be placed there"suggesting a cherry tree under your window "so I could get some cherry blossoms out of there because life is expensive and things are bound to increase". "Besides giving a beautiful flower, it also starved some people"he said in a relaxed way. "I'm talking cherry tree but it could also be an orange tree, one of clementines or a chestnut tree." Rosa also wanted to know how many cars would be able to park on the now reduced sidewalk. "Because for three cars, to lift all that sidewalk I think is stupid. The sidewalk was fine."he commented. In Rosa's view, it would be enough to make markings for the vehicles on the sidewalk and "downgrade it a little bit".

In the session of the Parish Assembly, he received confirmation from the Council that three parking spaces would indeed be created and that "no parking is allowed on the sidewalks", so a small pocket of seats was being cut out. Rosa was left with yet another piece of news: "It may be possible to put the tree in after the trimming [of the seats] is completed. They will check if it will be compatible with the underground infrastructure." But it couldn't be a cherry tree, the Board noted. "An orange tree is already more possible." Rua do Vale de Santo António is a steep artery, which connects Santa Apolónia all the way up to the Sapadores Market in Penha de França. There is not a single tree along its entire length. The sidewalk area that is being reduced could accommodate a small recreational and gathering space for neighbors - with a smooth, accessible floor, shade from trees and buildings, and some benches and tables - instead of three car parking spaces. This is the proposal of a group of residents and neighbors of that street, consolidated in the form of a undersigned, which put together 132 signaturesincluding Rosa's. The document has already been delivered to the São Vicente Parish Council so that the will of these people can be discussed in the next Parish Assembly.

Among the various signatures is that of Maria José Soares. Retired, Maria integrated as an independent the list New Times for the São Vicente Parish Assembly in the 2021 local elections. He tells Lisboa Para Pessoas that his great motivation "it is the defense of the common good, of my neighborhood and my parish"and that it is not committed to any partisan force. "I just want to be present, I want to be ranting, I don't want to be up front"she says, explaining that the invitation to join a list came after she started to be more attentive and involved in local issues [Maria José was not electedparticipating in the Assembly sessions as a substitute for elected members]. Above all, Maria says she is a citizen ("We didn't want to get involved as a list"), e it is in this condition that he joined the petition and that he decided to help Rosa in mobilizing the neighbors on the street.

Maria says “there is an invasion of the car". and that this work, like others that are being done in the city, will "against the right to walk unencumbered, quietly, on a sidewalk, to go shopping or anywhere else". In Rua do Vale de Santo António, the current intervention will not jeopardize pedestrian mobility, because the sidewalk is being renewed to make it more adherent and the crosswalks will become more accessible. But from Maria's perspective, was lost "a great opportunity" to improve "that rectangle"in a street where there is "little space" for the population - especially the elderly - to meet, leaving home and living in the street. "It feels like we are being swallowed by cars", regrets. "I have a car, I don't use it much, and so I will leave it further away"he says, mentioning that there are spaces in the city where parking lots could be created, served by "small buses always passing by" for people to get to their homes, to trade, to work, etc.

"There is a destruction of what can be good for the population. That's what outrages me." On that rectangle of sidewalk, Maria José Soares would like to see "two big trees or three smaller ones, and some benches and some tables" to bring people out of their homes and get them to socialize more with each other. “I would like to see the city with more humanity, with more space for citizens to speak."he says, mentioning the importance of these dialogues, meetings, and conversations for democratic health and recalling the role of cafés in other centuries. "We are losing the common space. And the city is running out of beauty. Just a tree is already something beautiful."

At the same Parish Assembly, Rosa told how, on Saint Anthony's and then also on Saint John's, she helped create on that piece of sidewalk a party for the neighborhood. "Some provided bread, others the sardines, others the meat. I made the cake"he said. It was a party from neighbors to neighbors because "Older people also like to have fun. They can't go to Graça, but they can go out in the street". According to Rosa, that small, familiar, informal party gave back the Santos Populares to many people. "I would like a lot and a lot of thought to be given to the elderly people"he commented; "what was done in that corner could be done in other corners of Lisbon".. Maria José, who also went to that meeting of neighbors in Rua do Vale de Santo António, says that "it was delicious" e an example of what can be done in neighborhoods, not necessarily in a Santos Populares environment, with public spaces freed from parking cars.