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After almost five months of the closure motivated by the coronavirus pandemic, this Friday the bicycles returned to circulate on the bike paths of the Mapocho River. With the presence of the Minister of Transport, Gloria Hutt; the mayor of the Metropolitan Region, Felipe Guevara; the Mayor of Providencia, Evelyn Matthei; the Mayor of Santiago, Felipe Alessandri, and the Executive Secretary of Choose Vivir Sano, Daniela Godoy, the reopening ceremony of the “Mapocho Ciclo Parque” was held, a 2.5-kilometer cycle path that recovers the river bed efficiently and safe.
The activity was carried out on the Huelén ramp, in Providencia, one of the three accesses to the cyclopark -the others are Purísima and Puente Los Abastos- that connects the communities of Providencia and Santiago and which also seeks to be a safe route and connectivity with the cycle paths of Rosas, Eleodoro Yáñez and Andrés Bello streets, among others.
“What is here is an investment in ramps that will allow joining not only these 2.5 km, but also the neighboring bicycle lanes from Vitacura to Cerro Navia. Unlike what happened in the past, where temporary authorizations were made, here what we have done is to acquire these ramplas so that they are not two, three or five months, but hopefully they can work throughout the year “, said the Mayor Felipe Guevara.
The regional authority indicated that “in the developed cities of the world that have a river, this is a convener. Santiago is the only one I know where it is a cutting edge that divides. We have to achieve a Mapocho that invites us to live together, to play sports, to reunite families, to jog and bike ”, added Guevara.
The explosive increase in the use of bicycles in Santiago at one point approached one million daily trips, which led to the start of this pilot project in 2016 and 2017. The Regional Corporation of Santiago requested the Regional Government a budget of $ 89,974,903 to reactivate this bike path in the Mapocho bed, an amount approved on January 15, 2020 and which includes the purchase of ramps, metal stairs, wooden beams with plastic stops, security bars, and assembly and disassembly of structures.
The accesses to the Mapocho River will be open from Monday to Sunday, at different times depending on the season. This spring it will operate during the week from 7:30 a.m. to 8:00 p.m., and on Saturdays and Sundays from 9:00 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. Bicycles, scooters, skates and pedestrians can circulate within the park, always respecting safety regulations.
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