At new car traffic rules in downtown Lisbon they may even go into effect this summer, as the camera intends, but it will be a long time before the photomontages released by the municipality become reality. In a first phase, restrictions on cars will be implemented through signage and some urban furniture, with the works for later.
In the report that supports the creation of Reduced Emissions Zone Avenida Baixa Chiado (ZER ABC), the municipality writes that “the execution projects will be developed and the construction works for public spaces will be contracted” only “in a second phase”, already after the ZER is in force. In addition, it is planned to carry out “a survey online for the elaboration of diagnosis and collection of suggestions regarding the intervention sites “, as well as” face-to-face sessions, this time on and at the intervention site “.
This means, on the one hand, that the images that the camera showed they may not correspond to the final result – as Fernando Medina incidentally assumed in the presentation – and, on the other hand, that the works will extend beyond 2020, and may not even be concluded at the next municipal elections, in the autumn of 2021.
With the implementation of the new ZER, the city wants arteries such as Rua da Prata, the end of Rua de São Pedro de Alcântara, Largo do Calhariz and Largo do Chiado to be used exclusively by pedestrians and public transport, the extension of sidewalks and the replacement of pavements is foreseen. In the streets of Ouro and Fanqueiros, what is foreseen is the creation of cycle paths through the elimination of traffic routes, while in Rua da Misericórdia, the expansion of the sidewalk next to the Teatro da Trindade is expected.
