With the signing of the commitment, it is hoped that Coimbra can serve “as a pilot, of good practice, of a good example” for the rest of the country, said the president of ANSR, Pedro Clemente, today, highlighting that the agreement is part of the National Road Safety Strategy Vision Zero 2030, which aims to halve the number of fatal victims and serious injuries by 2030, and eliminate them by 2050.

Concrete actions

The commitment foresees the implementation of concrete actions, with a calendar and budget to be established soon, such as the creation of areas with a maximum speed of 30 kilometres per hour (known as zones 30) and coexistence areas in residential neighbourhoods, school areas and around hospitals, said the mayor of Cuiabá, Ana Abrunhosa.

30 Zones

Zones 30 will be applied not only by setting the speed limit, but also through urban design and engineering solutions that require a substantial reduction in car speed, such as speed bumps, lane narrowing, or raised pedestrian crossings, he said.

The common areas have a speed limit of 20 kilometres per hour (km/h), designed for pedestrians, bicycle users and drivers to use the same surface, with the elimination of the separation between the sidewalk and the road and in which the pedestrian can use the entire width of the road, he explained, pointing to the Norton de Matos neighbourhood as a space where this measure could be applied.

Urban context measures

In addition to these two measures designed mainly for the urban context, the municipality also intends to move forward with a calming program in rural and peri-urban areas, with interventions on roads without sidewalks or with heavy crossing traffic.

Smart walkways, awareness-raising activities with young people focusing on festive seasons (Queima das Fitas and Latada) and the implementation of bicycle train programs in municipal schools are other planned measures, he said.

Regarding bicycle trains, Ana Abrunhosa said that the municipality wants to have at least one initiative of this type operating every day of the week, in different schools in the municipality, in conjunction with the educational establishments themselves and parents' associations.

Ana Abrunhosa assumed the objective of transforming the municipality “into a reference territory for safe, inclusive and sustainable mobility”.

Municipality diagnosis

According to the mayor, a diagnosis of the municipality should be presented soon, committing in September to presenting a more detailed action plan on the measures and interventions to be implemented.

At the same time, the municipality and ANSR will seek national and European financing mechanisms to implement measures, and a technical monitoring team will be appointed for the planned actions.

“What we are doing is a living laboratory in the city,” the mayor told reporters.

Also present at the session, the Secretary of State for Civil Protection, Rui Rocha, highlighted that Coimbra “will be a good example”, hoping that the municipality can draw other municipalities into similar projects.

“Road safety is a national cause”, he stressed, defending joint work to reduce the number of road accidents that Portugal records.