Freedom completed just over a decade when another revolution broke out in Lisbon. In 1986, Rua Augusta, the capital’s noble commerce corridor, was cut off to traffic. A chorus of protests was joined, according to those who remember, and the death of Baixa was announced. Without cars, Carmo and Trindade would fall, and commerce would follow.
“Today, nobody imagines Rua Augusta with cars. The changes do not scare us, we have to notice them”, points out Vasco Morgado, president of the Santo António Parish Council, one of the three parishes covered by the new reduced emissions zone ( ZER), the plan of the City Council of Lisbon (CML) to reduce the circulation of cars in the downtown of the capital and thus increase the air quality. For now, what the project leaves in the air are doubts.
“If it is implemented as it stands, I foresee some problems. On the one hand, I think it protects the residents, but the limited parking of visitors is not perceived. On the traders’ side, the big issue is the loading and unloading, which today is a huge problem. in this area of the city “, stresses Vasco Morgado.
If ending up with the vans parked on the sidewalks during rush hour is urgent, says the mayor, it is also important to ensure “the rest of the few residents who resist” in Baixa. The project foresees that the loading and unloading is done at dawn, between 00.00 and 06.30.
“Who is going to be in the stores to receive orders at these hours,” asks Fernanda Igrejas, a businesswoman at Rua do Ouro for 30 years and a member of the governing bodies of the Baixa Pombalina Dynamization Association. The organization, with around 200 members, including stores and services, met this week to discuss Fernando Medina’s plan, and write a list of questions and suggestions to address to the municipality.
“We are in agreement with the objective underlying the plan. But I do not agree with the way it will be carried out, nor with the speed with which the project will be put into practice. In the early days it will be painful for trade, there are too many restrictions” , says the owner of number 157 of Rua do Ouro, one of the arteries inserted in ZER. As of June, only public transport and authorized cars, such as residents and emergency vehicles, will be able to cross Rua Áurea, which will also gain a bicycle path.
New Lisbon for tourists?
In addition to extending the loading and unloading period, traders want to raise awareness in the chamber about “day-to-day situations”, such as “technical problems that need to be resolved quickly” by professionals who have conditioned access to Baixa.
At Rua da Conceição, known as Rua das retrosarias, shopkeepers’ concerns are similar. The new plan foresees to reserve “a significant part” of this artery for public transport, such as tram 28. “I’m divided”, assumes Susana Pais, who has worked at Adriano Coelho’s haberdashery for 16 years. “It is true that there is a lot of pollution here and extending the sidewalks is important. But without cars there are certainly customers who will stop coming. They start going to shopping centers where there are no restrictions at all.”
Among the remaining employees, opinions are divided. Paula Gaspar defends “the total withdrawal of traffic”. Francisco Jerónimo thinks that “Baixa is not prepared for such a drastic change”.
On the subject of “Nova Lisboa”, there is no one in the capital these days who does not want to give an opinion. At Rua da Prata, where she has been working for a year, Marisa Rodrigues even sees the changes with good eyes. She is amazed, however, to learn that it is already in the summer that the revolution will pass through here. “When I heard the presentation of the project, I thought it would take about three years to implement.”
At the Lua de Prata jewelery shop, “tourists and loyal and old customers” buy, so Marisa is not worried about the possible loss of customers. “If the intention is to transform Baixa into the most touristic place possible, they are on the right track”, adds colleague Patrícia Almeida.
The two employees who, like all the merchants with Dinheiro Vivo spoke, travel to Baixa by public transport, argue that for the ZER plan to be successful, it is necessary to increase parking and lower the prices of tickets purchased on board, which today cost two euros on buses and three on trams.
Medina admits changes
During the next few weeks, these and many other questions will be answered by Fernando Medina, in the tour that he started this Thursday by the parish councils, associations of traders and residents and other entities interested in changes, such as the ACP.
At the Parish Council of Misericórdia, the first that the mayor faced, Medina heard applause for his “courage” and apologies for his “mess”. The president admitted “openness” to change some of the measures, before the plan progressed to public consultation and was submitted for approval by the CML. There are, however, red lines that the president does not abdicate. Eliminating car traffic on Rua de São Pedro de Alcântara is one of them. “It is a shame what has been there for years.”
In Misericórdia, the objective of the plan is to end the “crossing function” of arteries such as Calçada do Combro or Rua de São Bento. According to Fernando Medina, the objective of the plan is to divert cars to Avenida Infante Santo, Calçada da Estrela and Avenida D. Carlos I, arteries “with more capacity” to absorb traffic.
In a plan that aims to clean the air of Lisbon, these detours also trigger alerts. “I am afraid that pollution will move away from Baixa to other places. When it moved on Avenida da Liberdade, the pollution levels increased on Rua de São José and Rua do Telhal”, recalls Vasco Morgado.
The president of the Junta da Misericórdia, Carla Madeira, believes that the parish can only gain from the proposals. “These areas have suffered a great deal of pressure, with real estate speculation and with the unrestrained increase in tourism. A local bakery or terrace is more appealing in a prime area, with a wide walk and without pollution, than with the chaos that exists today. “
The mayor expects that, in the coming years, the streets of Misericórdia, which competes with Santo António for the title of the most expensive square meter in the country, above 4500 euros, will be full of new stores. “It is an attractive area, regardless of how we can get there. If, in the past, the downtown area of the city was considered abandoned, today it is again one of the epicenters of the new and modern Lisbon. It will never lose its demand, either because it is one of the noblest places to live and work, either because it is one of the most attractive tourist attractions “, says Patrícia Araújo, responsible for the retail division of JLL.
ZER’s goal is to remove 40,000 cars from Baixa, so that in 2050 Lisbon smells of carbon neutrality, flowers and the sea.
– .
