The contract, which will allow the restoration of the old traffic directions on the sides of Avenida da Liberdade in Lisbon, is due to start in April, with the order of work being at the contract stage, EMEL confirmed this Thursday.
In a reply sent to Luce, the Mobility and Parking Company of Lisbon (EMEL), which was commissioned by the City Council, mentions that after the first tender for the contract in November 2022, “was abandoned due to lack of competition”. , the second was launched “in January 2023, which is in the contract stage.”
The news of the change of direction along the sides of Avenida da Liberdade along its entire length was spread by the Público newspaper, which reports that in the summer “it will again be possible to go up and down along the avenue on the sides, as it has been done for more than ten years, but sharing the road with bicycles.”
According to EMEL, “it is expected that the intervention could start in April 2023, after the necessary changes and redirection of traffic due to other municipal works being carried out in the vicinity (such as the Lisbon Drainage Master Plan).”
According to the explanation, Lisbon City Council and Santo António Parish Council announced the change in direction last October, with the contract expected to start in December 2022 with an estimated duration of six months.
However, due to the lack of competition in the first tender, a second tender had to be issued for the works, the program of which stipulates that traffic directions “will be changed in stages, block by block, as the work is completed” to ensure “minimal impact on traffic conditions”, and “four months” of work is now expected.
As EMEL explains, with the introduction of new directions on the sides of Avenida da Liberdade, “a maximum speed of 30 km/h will also be introduced”, allowing cyclists to “safely get the bike channel connecting the Marquis to de Pombal for the restorers”.
“There are potential traffic impacts during the intervention period from the implementation of bypasses to allow for the heaviest construction work,” the note also mentions, adding that the removal of any existing parking spaces is not foreseen.
According to the clarification, the contract provides for intervention at the level of traffic lights, the installation of traffic sensors, “as well as additional elements that allow the introduction of new directions for the side roads of the avenue.”
“Some islands that were built at crossroads to ensure the continuity of the sides” will also be demolished.
In October 2020, the Lisbon Chamber, then chaired by Fernando Medina (PS), approved in a closed executive session a proposal by councilor Teresa Leal Coelho (PSD) to restore the traffic directions of the side corridors of Avenida Liberty.
In 2012, the municipality carried out a number of traffic changes at the roundabout of the Marquis de Pombal and Avenida da Liberdade, which immediately affected “all mobility in the city of Lisbon due to the importance of the area as distribution.” the hub of traffic flows in the city, ”the mayor defended then.
On Avenida da Liberdade, traffic routes in the central corridor were redefined, as well as the traffic system in the side corridors was changed, which made it impossible to travel in the same direction on the sides of the avenue.
Author: Portuguese
Source: CM Jornal
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