The Alameda dos Oceanos, at Parque das Nações, now has a bike path along its entire length, from one end to the other. After a bicycle path was implemented in the north zone pop-up last year, now the south was requalified an old bicycle path that already existed there, allowing a seamless journey or surprises in between. The new section is already finished and comes with interesting notes that we highlight here.
We start at the traffic circleThis is the first cycling traffic circle with a background in Lisbon. There are more cycle traffic circles in the city, but they are all delimited by paint and bollards - low-cost works. In this traffic circle, the Rotunda República Argentina, the cycling lane was segregated with kerbs and flowerbeds, giving a more definitive look and a different comfort to the user.
There are bicycle crossing signs at each intersection, reminding drivers that bicycles have priority. To further enhance the safety of bicyclists (and pedestrians as well), the approach of cars to the traffic circle - on both the Alameda and the Ulises Avenue sides - has been narrowed from two lanes to one lane, so as to increase the visibility of the most vulnerable users (there is no risk of one car stopping and another on its side wanting to move forward).
The bike path on the south side of Alameda dos Oceanos was designed on the sidewalkThere was no visual or physical separation between pedestrian and bicycle space. Cyclists now have smooth, continuous sidewalk, without the ups and downs of sidewalk. All crossings are painted and properly marked, and some of them have been signalized, reinforcing traffic safety.
Near the Expo 98 Roundabout, in addition to improved crossing for cyclists, a new branch of the bike lane was created, through a 30+bike lane through a parking lot street, to the interior of the neighborhood. In this same location, the the city's first bicycle traffic circle - an interesting design but one that in practice may have little use.
The bicycle path at Alameda dos Oceanos will connect in the future to the existing bicycle path at Avenida Marechal Gomes da Costa. This connection is already possible today by walking a few meters by road, through Rua Gaivotas em Terra or Rua dos Argonautas, until Avenida Fernando Pessoa. Lisboa Para Pessoas will update this article when and if it receives more details from the Lisbon City Hall about how the connection between the two bike paths will be made.
