"The most critical moment regarding road traffic is the beginning, because it is a moment when there has to be the adaptation of those who enter and leave the city of Lisbon every day, and when there is a need for motorists to adapt on the part of the" Fernando Medina told reporters at the construction site.

Around 8.30 a.m. traffic was closed on the ring surrounding the central lawn, towards Avenida Calouste Gulbenkian-Avenida dos Combatentes.

The moments of cut off from the circulation will vary throughout the period of the work, which will continue for the next 10 months.

"At all times, teams from the Municipal Police will be assigned to this site to support circulation, and I believe it will run smoothly. With the constraints that a construction site places, but with normality, given the type of intervention of this nature," Fernando Medina said.

The metro station in the area (Praça de Espanha, on the Blue Line) is to be upgraded, with the installation of a lift.

"After the completion of the work the circulation will work better, with more fluid circuits in the direct connections to Avenida de Berna, Avenida Calouste Gulbenkian and Avenida dos Combatentes, to Avenida António Augusto Aguiar," Medina said.

Fernando Medina, present at the site at the time of the first traffic cut, said that currently, the Praça de Espanha is an "uncharacteristic area" and that the work will give rise to a new six-hectare garden, with more than 600 trees, in addition to pedestrian links.