In a statement, the Ministry of the Environment and Climate Action said that the projects would make it possible to move ahead with cycle paths connecting Lisbon, Odivelas, Loures, Oeiras, Amadora and Sintra, as well as Fundão and Covilhã, in Castelo Branco district.

Through the Environmental Fund two notices were launched under the Cycling Portugal Programme, one in 2019 and one in 2020, and these were the municipalities that benefited from the first notice, which will have a construction of around 46 kilometres of bike lanes, representing a total investment of around 12 million Euros.

This support from the Environmental Fund, which also had an edition last year, is part of the Government's strategy to promote soft mobility.

The Programme Portugal Ciclável 2030 (PC2030) is composed of three sub-programmes, each one concerning distinct situations: Interconnections between relevant agglomerations, Articulation between contiguous agglomerations and structuring cycling routes in isolated agglomerations.

The PC2030 foresees, until 2030, the construction of around one thousand kilometres of bicycle paths and a funding of 300 million Euros, which, it is estimated, will allow a saving of up to 50 thousand tons of carbon dioxide emissions.

The ceremony, which took place at the Senhor Roubado metro station, in Odivelas, was chaired by the Minister of the Environment and Climate Action, João Matos Fernandes, and by the Secretary of State for Mobility, Eduardo Pinheiro, also attended by the president of EMEL, Luís Natal Marques.

Empresa Municipal de Mobilidade e Estacionamento de Lisboa (EMEL) will be responsible for the construction of 5,572 metres of cycle paths, which will link Lisbon to Odivelas, Amadora, Moscavide, Sacavém and Algés, in an investment of 2,750,347 Euros, with 650,716 Euros of funding from the Environmental Fund, says a note from the company.

With the construction of these five inter-municipal cycle paths, which are expected to be ready by the end of 2022, EMEL intends to strengthen the promotion of the use of the bicycle as a practical and safe form of mobility in urban environments.

The bikeway with the greatest length (9,992 metres) will connect Restelo to Algés, followed by the one from Benfica to Amadora (5,350 metres), Lumiar to Odivelas (2,130 metres), Olivais to Moscavide (1,392 metres) and Parque da Nações to Sacavém (1,026 metres).

With regard to the 2020 notice, published in the Official Gazette on 30 July 2020, the Environmental Fund is awaiting authorisation to assume multi-annual charges, so the results of the 18 applications submitted will be known at the time of that authorisation.

The calls are addressed to pairs of municipalities, inter-municipal communities and municipal companies that want to build bicycle paths that cross and connect their territories.