The Doutor Lourenço Peixinho Avenue () is the main avenue of Aveiro, Portugal, stretching from the railway station to the General Humberto Delgado Square in the city center. With about 1,100 meters long, this artery is based on a rectilinear axis about 30 meters wide, with four lanes (two for each direction), separated by a wooded central plate. In this central section there is also a bikeway, created in support of BUGA's free use bicycles, a pioneering project in Portugal.
Initially designed as Cojo Avenue in 1907, and built from 1918 onwards under the name Central Avenue, this artery allowed to easily, quickly and functionally connect the railway to the city center and to the salt and fish industries, based in the Aveiro Lagoon, facilitating a route that was only possible through two indirect and difficult to cross paths (Estação Street and Americano Street). The opening of this axis was part of the great transformations that the city underwent during the 20th century and allowed its development and expansion to the northeast.
The avenue received its current name in 1943, in honor of the Aveirense Lourenço Simões Peixinho, president of Aveiro Municipal Chamber for 24 consecutive years (1918–1942) and main driver for its construction.
Despite undergoing a long construction and development process (1918–1935), Doutor Lourenço Peixinho Avenue quickly established itself as the main urban center of services and commerce in Aveiro, having undergone several alterations and requalifications over the years. The most recent, which began in August 2020, represented major changes to road and pedestrian circulation, in a project originally scheduled to be completed by the end of 2021. However, because of several delays in the work, less than 50 percent of the work was completed in January 2022.
History
Context
Inaugurated in 1864 and located far from the city center, the Aveiro's railway station caused, from early on, several connection problems. Although the railway promoted trade with other parts of the country, in the specific case of Aveiro, two additional goods transloadings were needed: one by maritime route (from Aveiro Lagoon to Cojo Wharf) and another from the city center to the station. This situation, therefore, did not serve the commercial interests and did not exploit the economic potentialities for the exportation of salt and fish, as well as pottery, wood and agricultural products. This issue was addressed by Aveiro Municipal Chamber, and it was initially proposed to create a connecting street between the station and the city center, for the advantages this would have for commerce, industry and agriculture.
When the railway track was inaugurated, the Municipal Chamber designed and built a provisional road, inaugurated months later as Estação Street (now Almirante Cândido dos Reis Street), which connected the station to the former Convento do Carmo (now the National Republican Guard barracks). The remaining route to the city center was winding and supported by several narrow profile streets (the Carmo, Gravito, Manuel Firmino and José Estevão Streets).
In 1873, the creation of a tramway connection between the station and Cojo Wharf was proposed by engineer Silvério Augusto Pereira da Silva. This connection would use animal-drawn carriages as vehicles, running on rails, to transport passengers or goods. The project, approved by the Chamber, in an alternative route to the previous one and located south of it, eventually did not materialize. However, the idea of the direct connection of the station to Cojo Wharf was considered important, leading to the construction of Americano Street (currently Comandante Rocha e Cunha Street). After the opening of this route, the products from the Aveiro Lagoon started to be transported by sea to the Cojo Wharf, and then transhipped to ox carts and transported through Americano Street to the station, where they were again transhipped in railway carriages, in a more efficient process than the previous one, but still time-consuming, expensive and cumbersome.
There was also a proposal for the creation of a railway station at the Cojo Islet and respective connection to the Linha do Norte, but it never materialized. All the city's alternative railway connections, such as the Aveiro-Mar or S. Roque Branches, were created already during the 20th and 21st centuries. Of these, the only one still in operation is the Porto de Aveiro Branch Line.
First proposal
The first concrete proposal for the opening of a direct route between the railway station and the city center appeared in 1895, by Jaime Magalhães Lima, president of Aveiro Municipal Chamber (1893–1895). Two hypotheses of layout were launched, referring to two central locations in the city where the avenue should end: the Marquês de Pombal Square, where the Court and former Aveiro Civil Government buildings are located, along with Município and Comércio Squares. These routes had in common the fact that they were related to important urban elements, in the city's context.
The first hypothesis was soon ruled out, since it would have required destroying part of S. Domingos Monastery (of which the Cathedral of Aveiro is part). The second route would not cause such a big impact in this aspect, since it would not jeopardize any significant building (it crossed mainly undeveloped agricultural land).
To the pressures that the Government was suffering to give greater technical and financial support to urban upgrading operations, it responded with the creation of the Ministry of Public Works and, in 1865, with the launching of the General Improvement Plans (Planos Gerais de Melhoramentos). In Aveiro, the improvement plan was drawn up from 12 July 1906 (date of Service Order No. 399), according to which the necessary authorization was given to the Directorate of Public Works.
Within this plan, special emphasis was given to the issue of connecting the railway station to the avenue that the Chamber intended to build for this purpose. It was in this context that the project of 9 July 1907 appeared. In the descriptive and justificatory memory of this project were explained the motivations of the Aveiro Municipal Chamber for the undertaking. It referred to the fact that the main roads or streets were insufficient for the increasing traffic of pedestrians and vehicles:
Thus, it was intended to build "a 30 meters wide avenue between the city center and the station of the North and East railways, with two roads of 8 meters wide each, edged with 4 meters sidewalks, having a central sidewalk with 6 meters wide that separates the roads and two rows of trees". It was planned that the avenue's sidewalk would be formed by four trainéis (sections of road with constant slope), to overcome the unevenness of the terrain and respect the existing communication routes (Americano Street, Arnellas Route and Seixal Street). Along the entire length of the avenue and on both sides, walls would be built up to the height of the sidewalk, when the road passes in embankments, or up to the height of the marginal land, when it passes in excavations. These walls would also serve as fence walls, as support for the adjoining properties or as support for the walls themselves. Along the new avenue, a collector aqueduct would be laid, an important infrastructure within the context of modernizing the urban space.
This project would not be immediately realized, due to the Aveiro Municipal Chamber's inability to support the economic effort that a work of this magnitude implied. Until 1918, the construction of the new avenue would not be considered, although it would still be a desired and intended improvement for the city.
Final Project
The decisive step for the construction of the avenue was taken on 2 January 1918, during the inauguration session of the new Aveiro Municipal Chamber. In this moment, the newly sworn-in president of Aveiro Chamber, Lourenço Simões Peixinho, made known his broad program for local improvements, within which stood out a solution for the opening of the much desired avenue. His proposal was "to open an avenue 30 meters wide that, starting from the railway station, would end in front of the Cojo Wharf". He also proposed to expropriate two lateral and annexed strips, also 30 meters wide each, to be divided into "regular plots" and to be sold to build urban buildings.
In his exposition, Lourenço Peixinho emphasized the advantages of these additional expropriations, which would constitute the major change from the 1907 project:
For the initial works and expropriations, Lourenço Peixinho suggested that the Municipal Chamber should take out a loan, up to 100,000 escudos, at 8% a year interest rate. The guarantee would be the mortgage of the expropriated lands and the income from the taxes on salt and clay. These would be amortizable with the product of the sale of the same lands and income from the same taxes. The great difficulty of the previous councils for the construction of the Avenue was related to their inability to bear such high costs. The law on public utility expropriation of 26 July 1912 would be determinant for the works to be carried out.
The project of the Avenue was approved in a Municipal Chamber meeting on 7 February 1918 and its governmental approval was published in the Diário do Governo on 26 April of the same year:
This project, in addition to the motivations already mentioned, indicated a greater concern on the Municipal Chamber's part in the future nature of the Avenue, a greater importance given to the (desired) urbanity for a road of this nature, a desire for more active participation in the process of conformation of the built environment. The project's descriptive memorial showed that, besides the obvious question of connection to the railway station, the intention was clearly stated that the Avenue would become the main reference axis for the city. Therefore, it was initially designated, in a symbolic and literal sense, Central Avenue.
The new axis would be built partially over the Cojo, implying a partial earthwork of this marshy area. The project framed the need to create a built space adjacent to the Avenue and a public space that would allow sociability. At its western end there was already the building of an old tide mill, which took advantage of the variation in the waters of the estuary in this area. At the time, the mill was a school, which would mark this end of the new avenue. Later this building would be converted into the Capitaincy of Porto de Aveiro (currently, the headquarters of the Municipal Assembly and an exhibition space).
The Avenue would have four lanes, separated by a wide central promenade with two rows of trees along its entire length. This sidewalk also housed the street lighting and several benches, dividing the Avenue into two lateral lanes, flanked by two shorter sidewalks, adjacent to the buildings. This central public space, existing between the two lanes, contributed to people walking and socializing in a large space.
Construction
The beginning of the works for the opening of the Avenue took place on 3 June 1918, on a portion of land that had been part of Manuel Mendes Leite's residence, and was greeted with "burning of firecrackers, salves of mortars and peals of bells".
The construction process proved to be long and slow, arousing great public interest, which was demonstrated by several mentions in the local press. About a year after the beginning of the work, the buildings whose location was incompatible with the opening of the Avenue began to be demolished. The last one, where the old Hotel Central was located, was demolished five years later, in 1924. The route was only completed when, in 1935, the Cojo Wharf was straightened to follow the alignment of the buildings, so that the Avenue would extend to the center.