Minhocão (São Paulo)
| Minhocão | |
|---|---|
| Via Elevada Presidente Artur da Costa e Silva (official name) | |
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| 290px
Minhocão alongside buildings
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| Route information | |
| Length: | 3.5 km (2.2 mi) |
| Existed: | 1970 – present |
| Major junctions | |
| South end: | Praça Roosevelt - Rua da Consolação in São Paulo |
| West end: | Largo Padre Péricles - Avenida Francisco Matarazzo in São Paulo |
| Highway system | |
| Highways in Brazil |
|
The Minhocão, officially Via Elevada Presidente Costa e Silva, is a 3.5-kilometre (2.2-mile) elevated highway in São Paulo, Brazil. Between 21:30 and 06:30 on weekdays and all day on Sundays, the highway is closed to car traffic, allowing dedicated use by pedestrians and cyclists. The road is named after the minhocão, a quasi-fictitious earthworm-like creature. Local urban planners have long advocated tearing down the road in order to promote urban renewal.[1][2]
History
In 1969, an elevated roadway was proposed by the administration of São Paulo Mayor Paulo Maluf to help relieve traffic congestion in central São Paulo.[3] Work on the highway, the largest infrastructure project of its time in Latin America, was completed in 1970.[1]
Because of the noise and disturbance caused to residents—in many places the roadbed passes within 5 metres (15 feet) of apartment windows—in 1976 the municipal administration decided to close the highway to automobile traffic on Sundays and holidays. In the 1990s, residents and the administration also brokered an agreement to close the highway between the hours of 21:30 and 06:30.[4]
Current use
On weekdays, traffic volume on the elevated roadway exceeds 80,000 vehicles per day.[1]
In popular culture
The highway's accessibility for videography has been featured extensively in Brazilian cinema, including the film Foreign Land, and in several English-language films, including Blindness and a segment of All the Invisible Children directed by Kátia Lund.[5]
References
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