The construction of a bike lane between Leiria and Marinha Grande, announced in December 2020, awaits community funds, the presidents of the two municipalities told the Lusa agency on Wednesday.
The mayor of Leiria, Gonçalo Lopes (PS), said that “in this community framework it was not possible to obtain financing” for the work, so the cycle path will be subject to a new application in a future community framework.
According to Gonçalo Lopes, “The project continues to be one of the investment priorities, but it can’t be alone [concretizado] with municipal funds”, since it is a work of the highest value.
On December 28, 2020, the municipality of Leiria approved, in an extraordinary chamber session, the project to build a bike path from the Lis River to Marinha Grande, with an investment of 6.6 million euros, supported by the two municipalities.
The route from Leiria to the mouth of the river, in the municipality of Marinha Grande, will be about 25 kilometers, of which 17.6 are in the municipality of Leiria and seven in Marinha Grande, one of the responsible engineers explained at the time. of the project, Pedro Teiga. .
Then, Gonçalo Lopes mentioned that the project would be a candidate for the Sustainable Urban Mobility Action Plan.
The City Council of Leiria is responsible for 4.6 million euros and the rest to Marinha Grande.
According to the Chamber of Leiria, the Ciclovía will contribute to the “valuation of the riverside corridorin the strategy of social use of these routes in terms of fluid mobility between territories and decarbonisation action on short-distance routes in comfortable orography”.
The project foresees an intervention in the pavement, such as the inclusion of furniture and the creation of 11 entrance doors in the cycle path, which will connect with Via Polis, in the city of Leiria, and gardens will be created based on native species, which which will facilitate its maintenance.
This Wednesday, to the Lusa agency, the mayor of Marinha Grande, Aurélio Ferreira (independent), assured that, although the candidacy was not approved, the municipality will not give up, just like Leiria.
The project continues to be of interest to our region, but its scope requires an economic contribution”, he stressed, assuring that a new application will be made for possible community support.
The execution of the cycle path between Leiria and the mouth of the Lis was proposed this Tuesday, at a meeting of the municipal executive of Leiria, by PSD councilor Álvaro Madureira, who requested the connection of the source to the mouth.
“If it was not accepted for financing, we have a waiting period that can be used to expand the project, so that there is continuity from the source to the mouth of the Lis River,” said Álvaro Madureira.
Source: Observadora
