Several arteries in the parish of Areeiro where bicycle lanes have been introduced in recent years are now receiving improvements to pedestrian accessibility. One of them is Avenida Guerra Junqueiro, with a lot of shops, where part of the sidewalk is being replaced with a more comfortable flagstone floor, making it more comfortable for those who walk along it.
If it is true that calçada portuguesa is a candidate for portuguese material heritage (with the prospect of it being nominated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in the future), it does not offer the best comfort for those on foot in the city. Therefore, the sidewalk should be preserved in historic areas and where there are characteristic designs, but it can be replaced or combined with comfortable paving in uncharacteristic streets.
This was the case with the sidewalk on Avenida Guerra Junqueiro. Without any ornamentation and full of ups and downs, the sidewalk made it difficult to get around, leading many people to opt for the smooth surface of the one-way cycle path next door. With a new, smooth sidewalk, Guerra Junqueiro and its shops will be more comfortable, as was the case with the Praça de Londres project at the end of 2019.
This type of flooring is also being installed in the Alameda Dom Afonso HenriquesThe new sidewalk will improve movement up and down the street. As in Guerra Junqueiro, the new light-colored sidewalk is complemented by various cobblestone details.
As for Edison Streetwhich intersects with Avenida de Roma and which in 2019 became a contra-flow cycling street, saw a the section of the sidewalk where a wheelchair couldn't fit was slightly widenedIt is now more than a meter wide. A detail well observed by blogger-activist Menos Um Carro on Twitter.
