The Calvanas Cycledonal Route, parallel to the 2nd Circular, formalizes a shortcut that was already used by people on foot and by bicycle.
There is a new cycling route in Lisbon. Informally baptized Calvanas Cycledonal Route, connects the neighborhood with this name, located in Alta de Lisboa, to the Campo Grande area. The route, prepared for pedestrians and bicycles, is parallel to the 2nd Circular and passes in front of a private school, Colégio de Santa Doroteia.
Just over 600 meters long, the route was already used as a shortcut, either by people on foot or by bicycle, and has now gained a formal design. On the Alta side, the route starts at Rotunda Nelson Mandela, next to the cycle path that connects directly to the Alvalade neighborhood, more specifically to Avenida do Brasil. In Campo Grande, the route ends abruptly at Alameda das Linhas de Torres, being less than 200 meters from the cycle path network that connects Telheiras, Lumiar and the central area of the city (Cidade Universitária, Entrecampos, Saldanha, etc.).
O Calvanas Cycledonal Route It is divided into two large sections. The first section is shared between pedestrians and bicycles and consists of a path with prefabricated concrete blocks, parallel to the 2nd Circular. The second section follows a car parking area and consists of a combination of a 30+bike lane (shared lane between cars and bikes, limited to 30 km/h) with a unidirectional cycle lane in the opposite direction (in counter-flow); to go up, cyclists follow the direction of traffic of the cars and, to go down, they have a segregated space.
This cycle path is the work of EMEL, Lisbon’s municipal mobility company responsible for building cycle paths in the city. Currently, two more cycle paths are under construction in the capital, one on Avenida Álvaro Pais, in Entrecampos, and another on Estrada do Desvio, between Lumiar and Ameixoeira. This cycle path will complete the city’s main cycling axis, as it will now be possible to cycle on dedicated infrastructure from the limits of the municipality of Odivelas to downtown Lisbon. A pedestrian bridge under Avenida Almirante Gago Coutinho is also under construction.
As part of public space interventions, the redefinition of cycle paths near Gulbenkian and the construction of a new cycle section in Sete Rios square are underway. Despite these advances, Lisbon has declined, in the last year, in the number of kilometers of cycle paths, with the elimination of a substantial part of the Avenida de Berna route in favor of the return of car parking.
