The capital city of Santiago is crossed from east to west by the Mapocho River, which is a fundamental part of its identity. With great flow variations o during the year, it has historical episodes of floods, torrents and also of extreme drought.
I live Mapocho is a proposal that allows us to highlight the southern bank of the Mapocho River and invites to get to know and to use this singular urban space. The project aims to recover the Mapocho riverbed as public space, in a floodable park, with a path for the pedestrian and cyclist traffic flow.
The project exploits the potential of the river’s channelization to convert it into an expeditious, continuous route without crossings or traffic lights, which allows to cross without inconvenience one of the most congested areas in Santiago.
For this event, 1 km of the 3.2 km extension of the bike path was asphalted with the sponsorship of the company Bitumix. In addition, 3 access ramps were installed with the support of the municipalities of Providencia and Santiago, as well as the bicycle brand Oxford.
With very little resources, the bicycle lane, the rest areas and the pedestrian crossings to the river were designed and painted. The informative signs and entrance panels were produced, as well as the means for the diffusion and merchandising of the project.
The riverbank was opened for 6 days in the context of the World Bicycle Forum, from 31st March to 5th April 2016. The bicycle path was used by over 45,000 people, including pedestrians, whole families and all types of cyclists.
Currently, both the municipalities involved and the Metropolitan Regional Government are carrying out studies to enable the space as an established park.
Year: 2016