Rio City Hall will demolish Elevado 31 de Março to improve the Sambadrome

The city of Rio de Janeiro will carry out a major urban renovation in the Sambódromo region, which includes the demolition of the Elevado 31 de Março, which connects the center to the south zone and passes next to the Sambadrome, as well as improvements to integrate the Samba Passarela to your surroundings.

The project was announced this Sunday (8) on the Rio City Hall website and also foresees the construction of a tunnel under the railway line, parks, residential buildings, a concert hall, and the samba museum.

According to city hall, the Elevado causes disruption to samba school parades by cutting off Avenida Presidente Vargas, where the schools are concentrated. Furthermore, due to the size of the floats, many end up crashing into the foundation of the viaduct.

The renovation will pay homage to architect Oscar Niemeyer, responsible for the Sambadrome project, city hall said. The construction will be inspired by the National Congress building and will be located on Avenida Presidente Vargas, over the entrance to the future tunnel that will connect with the Santo Cristo neighborhood, after the demolition of the Elevado 31 de Março.

“We are going to make Rio de Janeiro the center of the world again. That’s what we can do. This city is incredible, it is desired, it continues to be desired, and we need to do our part, which has to do with reality, has to do with execution, with work”, said the mayor of Rio, Eduardo Paes.

According to the municipal Executive, to execute the project, it will be necessary to demolish the Elevado 31 de Março in its entirety, from the entrance to Santo Cristo, in the port region, to the Santa Bárbara tunnel, at the access to the south zone.

With the demolition of the viaduct, an area equivalent to 700 thousand square meters will be free for the implementation of the modernization of the entire Sambadrome region.

Among the planned modernizations, in addition to all the requalification of road and infrastructure systems, the region will be reborn as a new district and fully integrated with the Sambadrome. The Samba Passarela will undergo improvements that include the construction of a museum, on land currently occupied by school floats, located behind Praça da Apoteose.

Terreirão do Samba, which is next door, will receive a concert hall, as well as a park, informed the city hall.