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Lots of work on the roads of Bologna and the metropolitan city damaged by the flood last May, almost all of which are now 100% passable again. A long list of interventions concluded successfully, from which, however, Via degli Scalini, outside Porta Castiglione, is still missing. The road, damaged by a landslide, is still accessible only on foot in a large stretch. If residents want to reach their homes by car, they must pass through via di Barbiana. And there is no shortage of difficulties. The councilor for public works, maintenance and cleaning of the city, Simone Borsariexplains the planning of the work was complex, but the deadlines will be respected.
The citizens’ appeal
Citizens, however, feel disheartened. Costanza Legnani Annichini, resident in the street on the hill, a few steps from the center, like other residents, sent a letter to the Municipality of Bologna to report what she and other inhabitants of the area have been experiencing for a year now. Residents were invited by Palazzo d’Accursio “to be patient”. Period in which the mayor Matteo Lepore “proudly boasted in the newspapers of a positive balance sheet, after half term, and of having completed all the works due to the damage caused by the flood” while “Via degli Scalini is still impracticable and not it is the only road in the hilly area. Not far from us there is Via della Fratta and there will certainly be others”, he adds.
The residents waited for almost a year, trying to communicate with the administration and asking for feedback which, according to Costanza Legnani Annichini, “did not arrive”.
“We were told that Via degli Scalini would be made safe, but instead it was transformed into a pedestrian path and the work was never done.” For residents it is now “obvious that the timing of the possible restoration, which the Municipality had indicated as ‘end of summer 2024’ will not be respected”.
Lack of security
But there’s more. In via de Guastavillani the construction site for the restoration of traffic is active and heavy vehicles often pass on the stretch of road that can be traveled by car, as well as regular buses, which often do not pass. “It has often happened that the Tper driver has to get out, ask the cars in the queue to reverse, blocking traffic”. Even the increase in traffic in Via di Barbiano, for residents, “makes the road very dangerous”.
The appeal to the administration
The invitation to the Lepore council is therefore to start the works in via degli Scalini “before something serious happens in this area”. “The council is carrying out many important public works, including cycle paths, the tram, Bologna 30 pavements in via Castiglione and even in via degli Scalini. We ask – concludes Costanza Legnani Annichini – that we too, who at this moment feel like second-class citizens and therefore no longer have the right to public roads, be taken into consideration”.
Councilor Borsari’s response
“We are moving forward with the planning and the works will begin at the beginning of summer – assures the councilor for public works, maintenance and cleaning of the city, Simone Borsari – . We have to intervene substantially in via degli Scalini and the works have involved a whole series of very complex geological and technical assessments. Furthermore, the interventions, explains councilor Borsari, are “of significant magnitude: it is not just a matter of redoing a road, but it is a much more complex job in a “much traveled” hilly artery which must be made safe and requires of important work. It’s not just a matter of allocating resources and studying a project, but it is necessary to have the consent of a series of other bodies.”
The state of the art of the road restoration project
The work schedule, in any case, will be respected. “The project is being approved and the works will start by the summer – assures councilor Borsari – and should last a few months. I have no elements different from what had been told to the citizens” who had been promised that the road would be reopened by the end of August 2024. “The process is continuing as had been said and there are no changes”, adds the councilor. “So far we don’t have time, we have forgotten about it or we have left citizens in discomfort, it is important to remember this – underlines Borsari -. The planning of the interventions, however, was particularly complex, but the timing is exactly what we said and there are no changes compared to what has already been announced”.
