Opinion – É Logo Ali: On the banks of the Pinheiros River, the city regains space

For those who like to walk around the city of São Paulo, a new alternative is taking shape next to the Pinheiros waterfront: the Bruno Covas Linear Park. For the time being, only 8.2 kilometers are reasonably structured, of the little more than 17 kilometers that will be opened at the end of the implementation of the project budgeted at R$ 58 million. But it is already possible to reasonably enjoy both the bike path and the trail for walking and jogging that borders it for most of its length, which is covered with gravel.

Last Tuesday (28), the blog went to the park to check the announcement of the opening of Mirante and Passarela Flotuante, as well as the structures (kiosks, gymnastics station and play ground) already assembled on site. The footbridge, which connects the bike paths on the two banks, was there, but the central section has not yet been placed, preventing the crossing, which is expected to work in earnest from July 15th. The Mirante was already available, and inviting for a photo with the cable-stayed bridge Octávio Frias de Oliveira composing the landscape. Something worthy of many likes on social networks, for sure.

The coexistence between cyclists and walkers or runners, on a weekday, is even quiet. But it can be difficult on weekends, when the public turnout is higher and the passages through narrower stretches where both trails cross or overlap — such as next to the Traição plant, owned by the Metropolitan Company of Water and Energy (EMAE) . Be careful, therefore, because, although every few meters there is a sign ostensibly warning of the maximum speed of 20 km/h on the bike path, the limit is not always taken very seriously.

Of the three toilet facilities already installed along the stretch, only one could be used, 2.5 kilometers from the access to the Laguna bridge, where we entered, and almost 6 kilometers from the nearest exit, at the height of the Cidade Jardim bridge. The other two stations on this stretch were inoperative, as were the drinking fountains. But the advisory explained that both these services and the Living and Support Centers will be fully available from this Friday (1).

How do you get there?

The issue of access is still a problem for those who are going to run or walk, and even more so for those who want to take children to enjoy the Kids Space and Zen Space, already implemented — but which are a considerable distance from the available entrances. Currently, the officially released area of ​​the park is only accessed via the Laguna bridge or the Cidade Jardim bridge. Another metallic bridge is being completed and will allow access to the administration of Parque Global, on the west bank of the road, over the waterfront, also from July 15, according to the press office.

“The first time I went for a run in the park, it was precisely to see something far from my home, in the top of Pinheiros”, says legal assistant and law student Roberto Carreira, 43, “from São Paulo from Mooca”, who usually walks and runs every day before 6 am. “I missed more accesses, and the infrastructure of drinking fountains and bathrooms, because whoever is going to travel almost 9 kilometers, if they don’t bring water, is left with no option and has no exits on the way”, he continues. But he praises the presence of police at the accesses, “which gives a good feeling of security” and, above all, the alternative view of the city: “It’s a sensational park, because in addition to being friendly because it doesn’t have aggressive ascents or descents, it also shows a side of the city that we don’t normally see”, he guarantees.

This alternative view is precisely what the Secretary of Infrastructure and Environment of the state of São Paulo, Fernando Chucre, highlights as a great differential of Bruno Covas. “We will still have several accesses, but the infrastructure is still being implemented and will be offered to the public in phases”, he explains. He points out that the concept of linear parks “is a great opportunity that we offer to bring the population back to the banks of its rivers, in parallel with the process of depollution of the Pinheiros River”.

Ah, yes, it is not a small thing to be able to say: in the middle of a sunny morning, the river did not smell bad. Not that it would ever look like a Thames, the river that cuts through London and whose quality of recovery was confirmed in 2021, with the finding that around 115 species of fish, including eels, sharks and even seals, are already enjoying themselves in its waters. icy. But, judging by the egrets and egrets that floated in the sun along the banks, maybe the São Paulo native can hope to finally breathe a sigh of relief on the edge of its badly treated waters, which, since 2019, the Novo Rio Pinheiros project has already reported. having removed more than 71,100 tons of garbage and 732,000 cubic meters of sediment from the bottom of the river. The city, pledged, thanks you —​and hopes that more and better will come.