Neither an audit of the cycling network nor Almirante Reis. Promised documents are slow to become public

In response to Councilor Carlos Teixeira, from Livre, at this Wednesday’s public council meeting, Carlos Moedas stated that the following morning (that is, this morning) he would have a meeting “two hours” to find out the results of the audit of the cycling network. But this document, promised in the 2021 election campaign, should have been shown to the President of the Chamber and made public much longer ago – more specifically: until the end of last year. This was, in fact, the first deadline given by the Lisbon Chamber, both in the voice of Moedas and that of his number two.

The deadline ended up being changed several times. The Vice-President of the Chamber, number two, began by saying at the Municipal Assembly that the results of the audit, as well as the consequent review of the cycling network expansion plan, would be known until the end of March; later, Filipe Anacoreta Correia advanced another timing: until the end of April. Questioned earlier this week by the LPP, the Municipality only indicated that “in due course” would lend “new information on the subject” – a vague answer but one that suggested news soon.

The audit of Lisbon’s cycling network was a promise made by Carlos Moedas four years ago, when the then candidate for Mayor had made the issue of cycle paths a campaign issue. Moedas alleged imperfections in the infrastructure and, to safeguard the safety of all the people who used to use them (or could use them), he decided, once elected, to request an assessment of the entire existing network. The work was awarded for 68.75 thousand euros to the international consultancy Copenhagenizein March 2023, with an execution period of seven months.

It was said that the audit was a basis for reviewing the entire network and deciding what investments to make in terms of expansion and which cycle paths to improveand also that preliminary conclusions could be released throughout 2023 to move forward with some works. What is certain is that the final report from the Copenhagize side will have been delivered at the beginning of this year. In October 2023, international experts carried out workshops and meetings with municipal technicians and political decision-makers, presenting some proposals and ideas.

At Written Service Information referring to the period between March 1st and April 30th, a document presented this week at the Municipal Assembly and which summarizes the Chamber’s activity, there is confirmation that the audit is ready and there is talk of a “re-programming the implementation of cycling infrastructure in light of the results” by the Municipal Mobility Directorate, “defining prioritization of its implementation between 2024-30”.

Despite the delay in the public presentation of the audit and this re-programming work, several works have advanced to expand the cycling network. This month a cycling route was completed between Alta de Lisboa and Campo Grande; and, under construction, there are two cycle paths, one on Avenida Álvaro Pais, in Entrecampos, and the other on Estrada do Desvio, between Lumiar and Ameixoeira. A cycle-pedestrian bridge under Avenida Almirante Gago Coutinho and the redefinition of cycle paths next to Gulbenkian are also under construction. The cycle path on Avenida de Berna was reduced and altered without any technical basis from Copenhagenize.

In December 2023, the Lisbon Municipal Assembly unanimously approved a recommendation from the Liberal Initiative (IL) asking the Chamber to disclose the results of the audit to the entire network, as well as the specific conclusions of the study commissioned from LNEC on the cycle path from Avenida Almirante Reis. At issue is “have access to reports that are public, paid for with taxpayers’ money, and on issues relevant to the city”as IL municipal deputy Rodrigo Mello Gonçalves pointed out.

Martim Moniz and Almirante Reis only in 2027

The presentation of the conclusions of the participatory process carried out last year on Avenida Almirante Reis is also taking a long time. After the controversy driven by the electoral campaign, the Currency Executive decided to cancel the idea of ​​changing the cycle path implemented by the socialist Chamber and think about the entire axis between Areeiro and Martim Moniz, involving the municipality’s technical teams, experts and the population in a series of discussion and reflection activities.

From this participatory work, completed in July 2023, a report would emerge that should have already been published. Especially because, according to the calendar presented last year, the program that will define the requalification project would be drawn up in 2024 and the necessary bureaucratic procedures would be launched; The requalification works would begin in 2025, after the drainage works were completed. Questioned by the LPP, the Lisbon Chamber now says that “the report is being completed” about the participatory process is that “a proposal for a new profile will be presented for the Avenida Almirante Reis axis by the end of the second quarter of 2024, as well as a diagnosis and alternative scenarios”. “An intervention program will also be prepared that will serve as the basis for the proposal to be submitted to the City Council Meeting in the second half of 2024.”

In other words, there is a slight delay in relation to the initial calendar: the intervention program will be ready this year but the competitive procedures may only be opened in 2025. In fact, these timings had already been revealed by the Councilor for Urbanism, Joana Almeida, at an event to present the Praça do Martim Moniz redevelopment project, on February 5th: next year the execution project will be prepared and in 2026 the contract will be launched.

The requalification of Martim Moniz will be combined with the requalification of Almirante Reis – two projects that will come together in a unique solution. As for the Square, a new public session is planned in June to inform the population of the definitive version of the project; After that, the preliminary study and the execution project will be carried out and only then will the contract be launched. The work is expected to be carried out throughout 2026, and should be completed in 2027, together with the intervention at Almirante Reis. The requalification will take place in phases.