This is not the first article to address this, nor will it be the last. Numerous studies and pieces have pointed out the inconsistency of promoting car-centric urban policies as mobility solutions. I myself wrote in 2021 about the need to stop building overpasses and claiming they will solve mobility issues. Recently, however, Maceió’s Municipal Transport and Traffic Department (SMTT), a local government agency, launched a public consultation to gather feedback on opening streets within the city's largest linear park, the Vera Arruda Corridor. The proposal aims to improve "mobility" and "traffic flow" in an area that "suffers" from rush-hour congestion.
The Vera Arruda Corridor is a recreational and sports space spanning nearly 1.5 kilometers. The area contains 15 streets, of which only two are accessible to vehicles. The corridor's history dates back to the establishment of the Stella Maris subdivision in the early 1980s. Although the corridor itself was only built in the 2000s, the central area of the subdivision was planned from the very beginning as a community space for residents.
