Forlì, 18 April 2024 – A new step forward for the ‘Bidente Cycle Route’ which will allow you to travel 81.3 km by bike from Forlì to the national park and the Ridracoli dam. A project on which the Province and the Municipalities of Forlì, Forlimpopoli, Bertinoro, Meldola (leader), Civitella, Galeata and Santa Sofia have been working for two years, with the technical-planning support of Forlì Mobilità Integrata, the support of the Cassa Risparmi di Forlì and the Sinloc agency.
The other evening at the Dragoni theater in Meldola, the general director of IMF Claudio Maltoni and the technical staff illustrated the project after the last inspections carried out with the municipal technicians. “The prospect is to connect the Adriatic coast with Florence with the cycle path – Maltoni specified –, in order to create a cycle axis from the sea to the mountains Forlì, from Cervia to Ridracoli and the National Park”.
The cycle path del Bidente is, as the speakers have repeatedly reiterated, a great opportunity to put an infrastructure with so much potential at the service of the territory. On the one hand it will turn to sports tourism outdoor (in particular to cyclists who use gravel bicycles, mountain bikes and e-bikes), it will also create a new connection between municipalities and their citizens. We will start from Ronco Lido in the direction of Spinadello – Fratta Bertinoro – Meldola – Cusercoli – Civitella – Galeata – Santa Sofia, using the banks of the Bidente and sections of existing paths, already traveled by the pilgrims of the Via Romea Germanica, which will have to be widened up to 3 meters with a solid earth or solid concrete base and made safe, together with crossings (cyclopean boulders, walkways, bridges). At Isola (S. Sofia) the cycle route then bifurcates with one route towards the dam and the other towards Corniolo and the national park.
“They will be There are 11 river crossing points – specifies the Fmi technical staff – 9 access hubs positioned near the towns (with 9 e-bike charging points and equipment for bike repairs, rest areas and refreshment points), with specific road and tourist signs. The cycle path will cost, according to initial estimates, 362 euros per linear metre, and will be built in installments with a total cost of around 30 million”.
However, the idea born in the Province was to combine the design of the cycle path with that of the Sp 4 del Bidente, focusing precisely on the union of the institutions involved. The technicians of the Sinloc agency they then illustrated that the route of the cycle route will have to be translated into an itinerary capable of attracting visitors and cycle tourists as happened in the Bolognese Apennines and in the Strade Bianche of Tuscany to increase in 10 years the share of cycle tourists mostly coming from Austria and Germany from the current 5 to 20%, reaching 40 thousand cycle tourists per year and an impact for the sector of over 3 million euros.
