The Calvanas cycle path, parallel to the 2nd ring road, formalizes a shortcut that was already used by people on foot or by bicycle.
There is a new cycle path in Lisbon. Informally baptized as Calvanas cycle path, connects the neighborhood of the same name, located in Lisbon's Alta district, to the Campo Grande area. The route, prepared for pedestrians and bicycles, runs parallel to the 2ª Circular and passes in front of a private school, the Colégio de Santa Doroteia.
Just over 600 meters long, the route was already used as a shortcut by people on foot or by bicycle, and has now been given a formal design. On the Alta side, the route starts at the Nelson Mandela traffic circle, next to the cycle path that connects directly to the Alvalade neighborhood, more specifically to Avenida do Brasil. In Campo Grande, the route ends abruptly at Alameda das Linhas de Torres, less than 200 meters from the network of cycle paths linking Telheiras, Lumiar and the central area of the city (Cidade Universitária, Entrecampos, Saldanha, etc).
O Calvanas cycle path is divided into two large sections. The first section is shared between pedestrians and bicycles and consists of a path with prefabricated concrete blocks, parallel to the 2ª Circular. The second section runs alongside a car parking area and consists of a combination of a 30+bici lane (a shared lane between cars and bicycles, limited to 30 km/h) and a one-way cycle lane in the opposite direction (counter-flow); to go uphill, cyclists follow the direction of car traffic and, to go downhill, they have a segregated space.
This cycle path is the work of EMEL, Lisbon's municipal mobility company, which is responsible for building cycle paths in the city. Two more cycle paths are currently under construction in the capital, one in the Álvaro Pais Avenuein Entrecampos, and another in Detour Roadbetween Lumiar and Ameixoeira. This cycle path will complete the city's main cycle route, as it will now be possible to cycle on dedicated infrastructure from the Odivelas municipality limits to downtown Lisbon. A cycle bridge under Avenida Almirante Gago Coutinho.
As part of public space interventions, the following is underway redefining the cycle paths near Gulbenkian and the construction of a new cycle path in Sete Rios square. Despite these advances, Lisbon has fallen back in the last year in terms of the number of kilometers of cycle paths, with the elimination of a substantial part of the Avenida de Berna route in favor of the return of car parking.
