A worm by any other name…

The 3.5-km road above, which worms its way through downtown São Paulo, is known as the Minhocão (“the giant earthworm”). Originally bearing the official name of Elevado Presidente Costa e Silva (“President Costa e Silva Elevated Highway”), the highway was completed in 1971 with the intention of expanding traffic capacity in a densely developed area where wider roads weren’t possible. As part of an effort in 2016 to remove names commemorating the dictatorship, it was rechristened the Elevado Presidente João Goulart after the president who was deposed by the military in 1964.

The Minhocão is also a legend from western Brazil of a giant snake, or perhaps fish, with that name that lives in the Rio Cuiabá. It is said to resemble a 50-foot (or perhaps longer) worm that was actually described by nineteenth century scientists.

The short-term effect of the highway was disastrous: “Since it started being built, the Minhocão has caused distress and complaints among the population around it. The air, sound, and visual pollution caused by the Elevado are obvious, mainly for the neighboring buildings, which suffer more from the situation. Together with the abandonment of the center throughout the 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s, the region has degraded, becoming a haven for people experiencing houselessness, prostitution, and drug users.” Or to use another phrase often applied to the road, it’s a cicatriz urbana (“urban scar”).

As early as 1976, the government decided to close the road from midnight to 5 am every day to address the problems. The closure times have been expanded and now the road is only open to traffic from 7 am to 8 pm Monday through Friday. The rest of the time it is dedicated to a wide variety of “internal tourism” activities: barbecues, exercise, soccer, strolls, and generally enjoying the outdoors. A road that epitomized urban blight is now the focus of a vigorous debate about how best to live up to its most inspiring name yet: Parque Minhocão (“Earthworm Park”).

Image source: pexel.com, Vinicius Apude Nascimento and Matheus Santana