Rua da Prata in Lisbon will be closed to traffic

Lisbon City Council wants Rua da Prata, under construction since December, to be closed to car traffic and dedicated to pedestrian, cycling and tram accessibility, the chief executive said on Wednesday.

“When we finished the work, we thought: what will we do next? […] Our goal is to improve pedestrian accessibility, improve bicycle accessibility, and think of this street as a street with a stronger dimension. At least there will still be a tram, because it is necessary,” said Lisbon City Council Vice President Filipe Anacoreta Correia (CDS-PP), in charge of mobility.

The mayor spoke on Rua da Prata as part of the launch of BICI – Bloomberg Initiative for Cycling Infrastructure, a program promoted by Bloomberg Philanthropies and the Global Designing Cities Initiative that aims to improve school connections through active mobility and connectivity between cities. city ​​bicycle network.

Recalling that the Baixa de Lisbon already has a purely pedestrian street, Rua Augusta, Filipe Anacoreta Correia said that Rua da Prata “will become another” where “pedestrian mobility and smooth movement will be enhanced.”

“This is our goal, this is what we are working on, but with concern and an approach that in some ways was also unusual. […] Solutions are not imposed. They are tested, discussed, and so we do the same thing as on the bike path we test the solution, we see how all the actors react and what the result is, but in reality we expect that we will have this connection with So , the river is strengthening,” he defended.

The chamber’s vice-president emphasized that it is the executive’s responsibility to create a city through dialogue with the people, “with decisions that are as reasonable as possible within the framework of various intentions.”

Rua da Prata is closed to traffic after heavy rains in December 2022 caused the collapse of the sewer walls, requiring urgent intervention by the municipality to carry out repair work on the affected area.

Taking advantage of the celebration of European Mobility Week, which has been celebrated annually since 2002, from 16 to 22 September, the Chamber’s vice-president highlighted the executive’s desire to respond to the “old desire of those who drive”. bicycle”, which aims to connect the Marques de Pombal with the Tagus River through cycling.

“This has been the subject of much discussion for many years, and we want to demonstrate this commitment by conducting a test,” the mayor said, referring to the test of a bike path in Rossiu, “not just to test people who ride on a bike path.” path, but also to understand how the city behaves in the face of this supply of space? […]First of all, how the traffic behaves.”

“If the test works, don’t worry, we will change the surface, it will be suitable for cycling,” he added.

Despite the missed deadlines, Filipe Ancoreta Correia expects work on Rua da Prata to be completed in November, noting that the road has been closed for months and businessmen have suffered closures due to the intervention of sewerage collectors.

At a meeting of the Lisbon Municipal Assembly on Tuesday, Lisbon Mayor Carlos Moedas (PSD) said that he is testing new bike lanes in the city, including in the Rossio district, which is “not realistic” for the Livre party. test.”