The government has announced that its project to build a covered skywalk along Avenida do Nordeste (東北大馬路) in the peninsula’s Areia Preta district will finally get off the ground after the ongoing Chinese New Year (CNY) holiday.
The Public Works Bureau (DSOP) and the Transport Bureau (DSAT) made the announcement in a joint statement on Tuesday last week, which came after the government initially scheduled to get the project off the ground in the second quarter of last year.
Last week’s statement pointed out that the 600-metre-long elevated walkway along Avenida do Nordeste will enable pedestrians to walk all the way between the government’s high-rise rental residential building for senior citizens on Plot P and the Mong Son social rental housing estate on Avenida de Venceslau de Morais (慕拉士大馬路).
The statement also noted that there will be a total of 13 access points to the skywalk, which will be at least four metres wide, with its roof to be 3 to 3.5 metres above its floor.
Tenants started to move into their flats in the Plot P seniors’ rental housing estate on Avenida do Nordeste in October last year.
The new social rental housing estate, built on the plot of the former CEM power station on Avenida de Venceslau de Morais, is known as Mong Son Building (望信樓), where tenants started to move into their flats in November last year. Mong Son Building is situated next to the Macao Daily News Building.
Avenida de Venceslau de Morais serves as a dividing line between Areia Preta and Mong Ha districts.
According to previous government announcements, the Avenida do Nordeste skywalk will directly link the podium area of the Mong Son social housing estate with the podium area of the Plot P seniors’ rental housing estate.
Running along almost the entire section of Avenida do Nordeste, the skywalk will run between Avenida de Venceslau de Morais and Rua Central da Areia Preta (黑沙環中街).
On the side in Avenida de Venceslau de Morais, the skywalk will be linked to Mong Son Building, while on the other side near Rua Central da Areia Preta, the walkway will be linked to the Plot P seniors’ rental housing estate, with other access points outside the Polytec Garden (保利達花園) and La Baie Du Noble (海名居) private residential estates.
According to previous government announcements, other access points to the skywalk will include those outside five other private residential estates along Avenida do Nordeste, namely Nam Ou Garden (南澳花園), Hoi Pan Garden (海濱花園), Tong Wa San Chun (東華新邨), Kam Hoi San Garden (金海山花園), and Kuong Wa San Chun (廣華新邨).
The government launched a public tender in February last year for the construction of the skywalk, after which the submitted bids were unsealed in the subsequent month, when the quotations proposed by the 11 accepted bidders ranged from 229 million patacas to 258 million patacas. The government said at that time that the project was slated to get off the ground in the second quarter of 2024.
After assessing the accepted bids, the government at that time hired a consortium to carry out the project for a price tag of 248 million patacas.
However, after the all the project’s necessary preparation works were completed in the first half of last year, such as land surveying, the relocation of the affected underground pipes and cables, widening the vehicular area of Avenida do Nordeste, and the relocation of trees, the walkway project has still not got off the ground.
After the project did not get off the ground in the second quarter of last year as scheduled, the government told the local Chinese-language media in July last year that “administrative formalities to get the project off the ground were still underway”.
The government told the media in November last year that the design of the project still needed improvements which were still underway at that time.
It was not until last week that the government confirmed that the Avenida do Nordeste elevated walkway project will finally start soon.
While the government said in March 2024 that the project was expected to be completed in early 2027, last week’s statement did not mention whether its completion schedule would be postponed.
Last week’s statement also underlined that thanks to the completion of the preparation works last year, at least two vehicular lanes in each direction of the two-way Avenida do Nordeste can remain open to traffic during the entire duration of the skywalk’s construction.
The Avenida do Nordeste skywalk will be the second of its kind in the city. Macau’s first covered skywalk, i.e., the one along Avenida de Guimarães (基馬拉斯大馬路) in central Taipa, came into use in June 2021.
Construction of covered skywalks is one of the government’s transport policies aiming to create a more friendly walking environment.
Cars drive along Avenida do Nordeste last week, with trees on its central divider having been relocated in preparation for the upcoming elevated walkway project. – Photo: Tony Wong