Fernando Mac Dowell

Fernando Luiz Cumplido Mac Dowell da Costa[1] (July 7, 1945 – May 20, 2018) was a Brazilian engineer and politician. He worked in several governments in Brazil, always defending the accomplishment of great interventions in the urbanism of Rio de Janeiro. He was one of the great critics of the transport system of Rio de Janeiro during the government of Sérgio Cabral.

Fernando Mac Dowell
Vice Mayor of Rio de Janeiro
In office 1 January 2017 – 20 May 2018
Mayor	Marcelo Crivella
Preceded by	Adilson Pires
Personal details
Born	Fernando Luiz Cumplido Mac Dowell da Costa 7 July 1945 Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil
Died	20 May 2018 (aged 72) Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil
Cause of death	Heart attack
Political party	PL
Profession	Engineer

Career

He worked at GEIPOT, a transport company created in 1965 by the military regime. He graduated in engineering from the University of the State of Rio de Janeiro (UERJ) in 1969, and soon afterwards became a professor at the same university. In the 1980s, he was director of the Carioca subway, when line 1 began to function during the term of Chagas Freitas as governor of the state. He was president of Emop during the government of Moreira Franco, and was considered to be candidate to his succession, but he affirmed to have broken with the latter due to the fact that the government tried to inaugurate the Viaduto do Joa without it being in conditions.

He also participated of the second government of Leonel Brizola, from 1991 to 1994, being an arduous defender of the subway system. Also participated in the construction of the Red Line. Recognized as one of the greatest experts in the area in the country, he made several criticisms of Brazil's subway systems, even saying in 2009 that "metro in Brazil only exists in São Paulo, Rio and Distrito Federal." Also made several critics to the works of expansion of the subway realized during the government of Sérgio Cabral. In 2015, it visited ghost stations, that affirmed that they had been ready since the decade of 1980, but that never they were inaugurated.

He joined the Liberal Party (PL) in the decade of 2010, and was elected vice mayor of Rio de Janeiro in the 2016 elections, on the plate of Marcelo Crivella.

Death

He died on May 20, 2018, of a heart attack at age 72. The mayor of Rio de Janeiro decreed official mourning of three days for his death.[2] After his death, an important highway of Rio de Janeiro city was renamed after him, the Lagoa–Barra Highway as Engenheiro Fernando Mac Dowell Highway[3] ("Engenheiro" means Engineer in portuguese).

References

1. "MAC DOWELL (PR): Candidato a VICE-PREFEITO, número 10, eleições 2016". UOL Notícias (in Portuguese). May 23, 2018. Archived from the original on May 24, 2018.
2. Morre o vice-prefeito do Rio, Fernando Mac Dowell (in Portuguese)
3. "Lagoa-Barra agora se chama Autoestrada Engenheiro Fernando Mac Dowell". G1 (in Portuguese). Retrieved 2018-05-25.