Angered Heliopolis residents petition to prevent construction of another flyover in historic neighborhood

Over 1,500 residents petitioned on Thursday to prevent the construction of a new flyover bridge in the upscale northeast Cairo district of Heliopolis, one of the Heliopolis Heritage Initiative campaign’s organizers told Mada Masr.

After initially seeking security clearance to hold a protest on Friday, Shoukry Asmar, a co-founder and board member of the initiative, which coordinates action among neighborhood residents, told Mada Masr that the campaign is now set to enter negotiations with the government instead, and will consider legal action if their demands are not met. Heliopolis residents “are really angry this time,” Asmar added.

According to Asmar, residents were surprised on Tuesday to find construction and drilling equipment deployed in the square in front of the church, and quickly organized an online petition to oppose the project. The petition states that the new bridge is set to pass over the Our Lady of Heliopolis Basilica, a 108-year old co-cathedral that Asmar describes as “one of the most important landmarks” for residents in the area.

The bridge over the basilica is the sixth in a series of new bridges that have altered the urban landscape of Heliopolis over the past two years, along with a series of street expansions, bulldozing of trees and green areas and the removal of the historic tramline and major squares.

“Now all of Heliopolis is under some bridge,” Asmar said. 

The petition had already garnered around 1,500 signatures by Thursday morning. Calls for protests on Friday emerged among the residents, who intended to request a security clearance for the protests today, Asmar said. 

Yet, MPs took action on Wednesday to broker a channel for negotiation between the Heliopolis Heritage Initiative, the Cabinet and the Armed Forces’ Engineering Authority, Asmar said, adding that the National Organization for Urban Harmony, a government body tasked with protecting urban heritage sites, was also taken by surprise by the project. 

According to Asmar, residents are intending to file a collective lawsuit against the government if negotiations fail to halt the project, which residents had previously communicated concerns to officials over. “Our voice this time was heard. Officials are considering our position, and we hope for transparency and public consultation [in dealing] with residents in all residential areas,” Asmar told Mada Masr. 

According to the residents’ petition, the new bridge is planned to extend over two kilometers from Ismailia Square, passing over Othman Ibn Affan Street, to reach the Ettehadiya Presidential Palace and Heliopolis Club, passing over the basilica, which holds the body of Edouard Empain, a Belgian industrialist who funded the construction of the church and the Baron Palace, located in the same neighborhood, during the British protectorate.

While major state projects over the past two years have ostensibly sought to avert congestion — and facilitate movement between Cairo and the new administrative capital, as part of a large-scale road infrastructure overhaul — Asmar suggests it would have been better to address the issue of traffic via other solutions, such as underground parking, enforcing rules to prevent double parking, or even relocating public transport routes.

Joining the outcry on Thursday, MP Amr al-Sonbaty, a Nation’s Future Party member holding a seat for Nasr City and Heliopolis in the House of Representatives, urged for the area to be preserved “due to its historical and archeological status,” adding that he had filed an official petition with the governor of Cairo to enquire about the new bridge “that threatens the area as a whole.”

In remarks to Al-Shorouk, Sonbaty added, “Heliopolis does not need the new bridge, especially after the significant development in the area.”