The pedestrian-only San Ma Lo project may return with some changes as the government announced its plans yesterday to turn the famous “Happiness Street” into a pedestrian zone.
The news was announced by president Leong Wai Man of the Cultural Affairs Bureau (IC) at a press conference following a Cultural Development Committee plenary meeting.
Officially referred to as Rua da Felicidade and colloquially called ‘Happiness Street’ by English speakers due to its meaning in Portuguese, the street is popular among local residents and tourists for its number of renowned and historic eateries in the district. The street featured green doors and windows, according to the IC, which were later mistakenly painted red.
The entire proposal will concern work on “Happiness Street,” Travessa do Mastro, Travessa do Aterro Novo, Rua do Matapau and Travessa de Ho Lo Quai. As part of a long-term project, the IC may initially trial the pedestrian-only zoning on weekends and gradually roll this out to all days. The plan is to block these streets and reserve them exclusively for pedestrians from morning to evening, and motor traffic will only be allowed partially during off-peak hours.
Given the strong connections between the project and the San Ma Lo pedestrian zoning done with the participation of casino operators early this year, the IC president was asked if a similar form of cooperation will be staged again. In response, Leong, said that the first phase will rely mostly on government efforts “to create conditions to revive the neighborhood.” The government efforts that she referred to involve converting the streets to become pedestrian-only and the placement of art installations across the neighborhood.
Communications with neighborhood associations and business associations on this have been conducted, the IC president disclosed. “Many businesses have expressed their support for the project,” Leong added, saying that opinions from individual residents are now being gathered.
Discussions with IC’s government counterparts have also been undertaken, said Leong, with support for the project. These counterparts included the Transport Bureau (DSAT), the Municipal Affairs Bureau (IAM) and the Public Security Police Force (PSP), among other bureaus.
When questioned by the Times if the project will exert additional pressure on nearby roads, Leong noted that the DSAT considered the project to be feasible from a transport perspective.
Many drivers do take the alleyways beside San Ma Lo when they need to travel between the east and the west coasts of Macau Peninsula, so as to avoid the traffic on San Ma Lo.
Last month, the DSAT announced the permanent closure of the opening from Avenida de Amizade to the Sewage Treatment Plant on Jun. 22, citing previous evaluations supporting the viability of such a change. However, the closure only lasted for 14 hours or so.
Leong insisted that the proposal was announced only following evaluations proving its feasibility. Admitting that closure to motor traffic will have downstream impacts, she emphasized that “Happiness Street” does not normally have heavy traffic, hinting that the closure would not significantly impact motor traffic on the street.
She was almost immediately questioned by another journalist about the necessity of barring motor traffic on these small streets when they do not “normally have heavy traffic.”
The culture official defended that the closure will help with inaugurations of art installations and that pedestrians will not need to make way for motor traffic.
In response to concerns that the area prone to traffic congestion after the commencement of the project might expand significantly, and thereby eventually discourage interested members of the public from visiting the district, Leong disagreed, saying that people who want to reach Largo do São Domingos cannot alight there, suggesting that people will be willing to walk to the pedestrian-only zone.
Leong was asked to elaborate on the necessity of the initiative to achieve revival of the neighborhood and increase tourism, given that similar districts in Hong Kong – Central and Sheung Wan, which also have small alleys and old buildings – have been active even without a pedestrian-only zone.
She said that each example is individual and unique. “Some places can be bustling even without pedestrian zones,” she said. “We have been hearing neighborhood associations calling for the government to do something to energize the district.”
Several businesses in the district, including several Cantonese restaurants, several Chinese dessert eateries, a Macanese restaurant and an Indonesian grill bistro, have always seen packed shops and long queues.
For the time being, the IC has no timeline for the establishment of the pedestrian zone.
