Avenida Beira-Mar Continental was inaugurated on March 22, 2012 by Mayor Dario Berger in a ceremony held next to the Hercílio Luz bridge. With a length of 2 km, it has a lane with three lanes, an auxiliary lane with two lanes, a bike lane and a pedestrian walkway adapted for the visually impaired and with ramps for the disabled. Its one-way path begins under the Hercílio Luz Bridge and continues in an arch along the shoreline to Ponta do Leal. Much sought after by the local population for leisure, Beira-mar Continental is a venue for outdoor concerts and events. On New Year's Eve it's one of the best places to watch the fireworks in the north bay and porte Hercílio Luz. Its official name, Avenida Poeta Zininho, honors Claudio Alvim Barbosa, composer of Rancho de Amor à Ilha, the official anthem of Florianópolis. Zininho, still a teenager, lived in the region.
HistoryEven before Francisco Dias Velho founded Desterro, in 1763, a cruise had already been erected, dating from 1651, demonstrating the presence of European settlers in this region. The project to transform the area corresponding to Beira-Mar Continental dates back to the 1950s and its main objective is to integrate traffic between the municipalities of Biguaçu, São José and Florianópolis. The area occupied today by her, has already housed important beaches in the past, such as Praia do Canto, Praia do Porto, Praia do Matadouro and Praia do Estreito. These beaches were formed by a single strip of continuous sand, which varied between 3m and 30m in width and approximately 1.600m in length. Depending on the locality, they had a different reference name. Praia do Canto, so called because its curvature provided natural protection for the anchoring of boats on days with south wind. Praia do Porto was called that because of the old pier that existed there for use in transporting people and cargo between the island and the mainland. Praia do Matadouro received its name because of the Municipal Abatedouro that was installed there and, finally, Praia do Estreito, more recently, when the region was urbanized and became known as Bairro Estreito.
