Concerning a potential traffic impact caused by the government’s plan to convert Rua da Felicidade (福隆新街) into a permanently pedestrianised area, Transport Consultative Council member Chester Ku Heng Cheong said yesterday that the future pedestrian-only zone would only have a “limited” impact on nearby vehicular traffic as the street concerned is “relatively” short, and also does not involve any bus routes.
Ku is the deputy executive director of the Macau New Chinese Youth Association.
The Chinese name of the street means “New Street of Happiness and Prosperity”. The street’s Portuguese name means “Street of Bliss”.
In view of the fact that there are currently no buses running along Rua da Felicidade and that visitors to the area have to get off buses on Avenida de Almeida Ribeiro (aka “San Ma Lou” in Cantonese – New Avenue) and then reach it on foot, Ku urged the government to optimise the street crossings in the neighbourhood, while solving the problem of the loading and unloading of goods by businessses in the area in the future.
Ku made the remarks while attending public broadcaster TDM’s Chinese-language radio phone-in programme, Ou Mun Gwong Cheuhng, with Lei Cheok Kuan, chairman of the Industry and Commerce Federation of Macau Central and Southern District, and Ieng Weng Fat, a member of the government-appointed Cultural Development Consultative Council, in the attendance.
During yesterday’s phone-in programme, Lei urged relevant government entities to learn from the experience of the temporary pedestrianisation of San Ma Lou early this year when a large number of residents and tourists flocked to the area and vehicular traffic and the movement of pedestrians were both affected by the temporary closure of several road junctions. With the aim of benefiting also the surrounding businesses in the area, Lei urged the government to divert crowds to the streets nearby after Rua da Felicidade has been permanently pedestrianised.
In order to make the plan more effective, Lei said, the Cultural Affairs Bureau (IC) should make full use of Rua da Felicidade’s pedestrianisation by cooperating with the Macau Government Tourism Office (MGTO) in connecting the pedestrianised area with different activities held in the surrounding areas such as Praça de Ponte e Horta (司打口), in line with the “tourism+culture” initiative.
According to Lei, traders in Rua da Felicidade have long anticipated the street’s pedestrianisation.
Rua da Felicidade was a so-called “flower road” (花街) – an area where “ladies of the night providing blissful services” lived and worked – in the early days. The street dating back to the 19th century features Lingnan-style “blue brick” two-storey townhouses, according to Ieng, who said he believed that revitalisation was the best way to preserve the edifices and develop the old neighbourhood.
Residents and tourists last night walk along Rua da Felicidade (“Street of Bliss”), which the Cultural Affairs Bureau (IC) plans to convert into a permanently pedestrianised street. – Photo: Yuki Lei
