In 2020, car parking was removed from Rua de São Paulo, in Lisbon, with a "pop-up" intervention that made it possible to extend the area for people to enjoy and improve the circulation of Carris. Now, that space will become an accessible, comfortable and tree-lined promenade.
In 2020In the context of a pandemic, the Lisbon City Council announced an ambitious program to rescue public space from cars, consisting of quick and cheap interventions - "pop-up" interventions. One of the few projects that came to fruition was in Rua de São Pauloin Lisbon's Cais do Sodré: the parking lot has been removed and the space gained has been converted into terraces or parking areas for motorcycles and bicycles.
Now, three or four years later, Rua de São Paulo is going to get a wider sidewalk once and for all. The work will be carried out by the Misericórdia Parish Council under the delegation of powers by Lisbon City Council, and will begin next Monday, November 6th. On the table is the requalification of the north sidewalk of the street, between Calçada da Bica Grande (building with door number 216) and Rua do Corpo Santo, connecting it to the east with Largo do Corpo Santo.
It will be created "a pleasant route, a crossing space for all people, regardless of their physical condition", describes the Junta da Misericórdia. "Generally speaking, an obstacle-free route will be created, limiting the sidewalk to the dimensions necessary for the streetcar to pass, ensuring a smooth and non-slip floor in concrete slabs, along the entire north sidewalk of Rua de S. Paulo, from the space with lioz sidewalk in front of the Elevador da Bica and the sidewalk in glass and granite sidewalk of Travessa do Cotovelo, which will extend along Rua do Corpo Santo until it meets Rua de S. Paulo."
According to the Junta, where the sidewalk is wider, the planting an alignment of 11 trees in a boiler room, "promoting the implementation of new tree-lined axes, as provided for in Lisbon's PDM". In addition, three pedestrian crossings will be created along the pedestrian route included in the intervention area and a crosswalk will also be reactivated on Travessa do Corpo Santo. Bicycle and motorcycle parking spaces will be provided, albeit reconfigured and located closer to the current ones.
These rehabilitation works on Rua de São Paulo will be carried out in line with the progress of the rehabilitation work on the gas distribution structure, which is currently underway. The intervention is funded by Lisbon City Council and carried out by the Misericórdia Parish Council under a Delegation of Powers ContractThe project is scheduled to last 90 days and should be ready in January 2024.
The intervention made in 2020 allowed “solve one of the biggest circulation problems for Carris, which lost 94 hours on that street in 2019many resulting from poorly parked cars"according to the Lisbon City Council. "After the intervention to increase pedestrian space, Carris incidents on Rua de São Paulo fell by less than half, which meant a greater flow of traffic from the streetcars and buses that pass that way every day.", shared the municipality said at the time. To compensate for the removal of parking from Rua de São Paulo, exclusive parking spaces were created for residents in the surrounding area.
