Giovanni Radighieri (provincial management and city secretariat of Azione Reggio Emilia) writes in a note: “Azione firmly believes that environmental sustainability objectives must be combined and placed in the socio-economic context of the city of Reggio, characterized by a lively industrial and services sector . We believe that the use of private cars should not be demonized but should be included in a holistic and all-encompassing project that includes different forms of mobility depending on needs and circumstances.
The traffic problem is there for all to see: during rush hours, traffic jams regularly form both in the morning and in the afternoon, with difficulties in crossing the city and the municipality both in the North-South and East-West direction. This severely affects travel times, as well as creates additional pollution: from the Arpae rankings on pollution and especially on fine particles, Reggio Emilia is one of the worst areas of the Po Valley.
The urban development that the city has experienced in recent decades has led to an ever-increasing imbalance between where the majority of the population lives, i.e. south of the Via Emilia, and where the major centers of work activity are located, i.e. north of the Via consular.
The next municipal administration, of which Azione will be part, will have to set itself the objective of overcoming this fracture through infrastructural works and public transport that fluidize the north/south and also east/west movement axis.
Reggio Emilia in Action strongly believes that the connection with the neighboring provinces of Modena and Parma should be strengthened with the implementation of the much discussed Via Emilia Bis both towards the west and towards the east, with the aim of strengthening the connection between the territories with a view to vast area and at the same time relieve the towns and villages that are currently crossed by it from heavy traffic.
Let us remember that the absence of road infrastructure undermines the economic attractiveness of the city of Reggio Emilia and its province compared to other similar areas in Northern Italy.
It appears that a serious examination of the city’s congestion points can no longer be postponed, with particular regard to the morning rush hour, lunch break and evening, to define a plan of works aimed at resolving traffic bottlenecks and reducing traffic times. of crossing.
It should be noted that Reggio, despite other cities in Emilia Romagna of similar size, does not have a closed ring of dual lane ring roads in each direction.
The so-called Southern Ring Road is nothing more than a road axis with a 50 km/h limit with at-grade intersections, i.e. roundabouts where long queues regularly form.
The extension of the ring road from San Prospero Strinati to Corte Tegge is a good thing but does not appear to be decisive, as it only affects the north-west quadrant, without therefore significantly reducing the time to get to the A1 motorway toll booth and the Mediopadana station, while the Rivalta link road and the Fogliano ring road only intervene on specific problems but do not modify the overall structure.
Azione proposes to start an analysis and an organic design of the Reggio Emilia road system that leads to overcoming these bottlenecks, with the aim primarily of replacing the roundabouts with overpasses and underpasses and of thinking of new road axes to relieve the city streets and the ring road.
Furthermore, the current level crossings created by the tracks of the railway lines that lead from Reggio to Sassuolo on one side and to Ciano on the other must be rethought: the main road axes will also have to include railway overpasses or vehicle underpasses here.
Azione also believes that a second toll booth on the A1 – Reggio Est motorway is necessary, for various reasons, including the relief from the northern ring road for those who need to go towards Bologna from Reggio or for those coming from the eastern part of the province (i.e. Scandiano, Rubiera and Correggio) should head towards Milan.
Another proposal to work on, already launched by the Arch. Maria Cristina Costa and in the past also by Eng. Bini i, is to overcome the caesura created by the city ring road between the historic center and the first suburbs, creating linear underground car parks and moving traffic as much as possible onto the external ring roads, present and future, and at the same time creating radial axes that connect from the outside to the Old Town. In this way the space of the ring road could be reduced and it would become more of a green space usable by citizens, with vehicular traffic reduced to the necessary minimum.
The historic center needs greater accessibility, therefore Azione proposes the creation of underground car parks or silo car parks to guarantee the possibility of reaching it for those who cannot travel by bicycle or public transport.
There are those who will ask where to find the funds for this infrastructural transformation of the city: let’s remember that there are resources at various levels dedicated for these purposes, what is needed is the political will to grab them and consider it a priority.
Last very sore point in Reggio: the potholes.
The budget currently allocated to ordinary and extraordinary maintenance is totally insufficient and the management is also perhaps not so determined, with the consequences visible to all citizens: with every episode of bad weather, real chasms are created in the city streets, which create traffic problems. safety for those who find themselves in transit, vulnerable users first and foremost”.
Tags: Reggio Action Emilia Bis Southern Ring Road road system rethought
