Citizens of the municipality of Oeiras, the most car-dependent place in Portugal, have voted strongly in favour of the 'Ciclovia na Marginal’ proposal to convert a second car lane into a coastal bicycle lane. An article published by ECF in April 2014 outlines the difficulties faced by a community plagued by a ‘dictatorship of cars’. 

The lack of bicycle-friendly infrastructure means that for the elderly, children and biking tours, cycling along this coastline is just not safe enough. The proposed 5.8km bike lane that passes through Oeiras would connect Lisbon and Cascais and make part of the proposed extension to EuroVelo 1 - Atlantic Coast Route.

In the initial phase, the proposal received an unexpected demonstration of public support. However, Portuguese cycling advocacy groups fear that public support will be ignored in the upcoming negotiation rounds. Long-accused of ignoring active mobility infrastructure in favour of cars, the national road authority, Estradas de Portugal, is expected to argue against the proposal in the car-focused technical assessment round. Furthermore, the local municipality is showing no signs of supporting the initiative.

If Ciclovia na Marginal is dropped, it will deal a real blow not only to the trust of this community in their institutions, but also to the effort to promote improved cycling infrastructure. This car-focused mentality is not Europe’s future nor is it the wish of most Europeans. Unfortunately, the insistence of institutions to invest in cars will set communities on an unavoidable course of car dependency.