Secretary for Transport and Public Works Raimundo do Rosário said yesterday that a tunnel for pedestrians only under Guia Hill could open in October at the earliest.
Rosário made the remarks when replying to oral interpellations by several lawmakers during a plenary session in the legislature’s hemicycle.
The hole-through (aka breakthrough) of the ongoing pedestrian tunnel project under Guia Hill was completed in October last year, the government said at that time.
A government project to build a tunnel for pedestrians under the hill connecting Zape and the Avenida de Horta e Costa neighbourhood got off the ground in December 2020.
The entrance to the Guia Hill pedestrian tunnel on the Zape side will be located near the Caltex petrol station in Avenida do Dr Rodrigo Rodrigues, while its entrance on the other side of the hill will be located in Flora Garden.
The government has said that after the pedestrian tunnel is completed, the walking distance between the two sides will be shortened to about 400 metres from the current 1,100 metres.
The whole project, officially known as Walking System Surrounding Guia Hill, also includes two footbridges across Avenida do Dr Rodrigo Rodrigues, one from the tunnel’s entrances to Rua de Malaca and the other to near an undeveloped plot between the Jai Alai casino-hotel complex and Casa Real Hotel.
The pedestrian tunnel will have a travellator (aka moving walkway). In addition, lifts are being set up inside the tunnel connecting to the main walking and running trail on Guia Hill – officially known as Estrada do Engenheiro Trigo.
The current two-lane vehicular tunnel under Guia Hill has been in use since 1990.
3-minute walk
During yesterday’s plenary session, Rosário said that according to Macau’s future land transport master plan, the government will put more emphasis on building walking systems over the next 10 years.
Rosário also said that the Guia Hill pedestrian tunnel could come into use in October at the earliest. The policy secretary also said that he has had tried out the tunnel, and it took him only three minutes to walk from Flora Garden to Avenida do Dr Rodrigo Rodrigues.
Secretary for Transport and Public Works Raimundo do Rosário addresses yesterday’s plenary session in the Legislative Assembly’s (AL) hemicycle.
Photo courtesy of TDM
