Sete Rios square has more space for strolling
The new project, covering an area of more than 152,000m2, concentrates the local road system on both sides of the Eixo N/S Viaduct, returning the space in front of the Zoo to pedestrians, with the reappearance of an Urban Square, the refurbishment of the Pavilhão da Correspondência, and a significant area with a system of recreational water games.
The measures adopted also include traffic calming, with narrower lanes, more BUS lanes , relocation of stops for the various modes of transport, and short pedestrian crossings - which favor pedestrians, cyclists and public transport.
The old space, in the parish of São Domingos de Benfica, was "complex and contradictory", whose road traffic and parking "throughout its space, made pedestrian use a residual, uninteresting and unsafe activity". According to the municipal services responsible for the work, "the existing uses and equipment along the entire front of the Zoo did not allow for the enjoyment of a coherent and attractive public space".
The work inaugurated today - which took around two years and involved an investment of eight and a half million euros - by Carlos Moedas, the mayor of Lisbon, also included a collector on Estrada das Laranjeiras, as part of Lisbon's General Drainage Plan, at a cost of three and a half million euros.
The "very important invisible work", said Carlos Moedas, is a collector that "was completely destroyed" that carries water to the Alcântara Treatment Plant, via the Alcântara canal. "And this is part of a major project, which I call an invisible project, but which is so important for the city, which is drainage."
"We experience floods every year and once these works are finished, including this one, the other is the tunnel from Campolide to Santa Apolónia and the third is the tunnel from Chelas to Beato, we will no longer have these effects," he concluded.