Bologna, Florence, Milan, but together with them also Amsterdam, Brussels and Helsinki. There are thirteen mayors in total, including the mayor of Bologna Matteo Lepore, and the deputy mayors of European cities who in a letter published in the “Financial Times” yesterday, Thursday 25 April, denounce how in England and throughout Europe there is “an emerging and worrying tendency” of national governments to make it difficult for cities and their mayors to intervene on road deaths , “imposing lower speed limits and other measures.” And so the controversy, which was no longer local for some time, about City 30 under the Two Towers also goes beyond national borders and Bologna becomes one of the many cities to experience a conflict with the central government over the issue of speed limits and road safety. Governments curb the autonomy of mayors and mayors ask for freedom of manoeuvre.
The editorial in the «Financial Times»
The mayors who signed the letter, which was published following an editorial in the “Financial Times” where the promising experiment carried out by English metropolitan mayors on the topic of road safety was applauded, denounce how, on the contrary, both in England and in Europe in general, those in administration have many difficulties in proposing innovative policies in this sense. For example «In Italy where the government has proposed a new law on road traffic that would seriously hinder the ability of local authorities to create restricted traffic zones, install speed cameras and set lower speed limits». And here, it goes without saying, the implicit reference is to the battle that, after the resolution of the Municipality of Bologna on City 30, the Minister of Transport Matteo Salvini undertook with Mayor Lepore to set “boundaries” to the measure and justify it step by step in detail.
The intervention was also signed by Milan and Florence
But Bologna, as well as Milan (with the deputy mayor and councilor for mobility Arianna Censi) and Florence (with the mayor Dario Nardella) who signed the intervention, are in good company even outside Italy. In England, we read in the letter, in fact, «A plan for drivers from the central government aims at equally restrictive measures. In Germany, however, “the government has so far resisted efforts by more than 1,000 towns and cities who want greater control over local speed limits.” Which is the same problem reported in recent months by the mayor Matteo Lepore which is insistently asking Rome to leave autonomy to the first citizens on everything related to road safety, by virtue of their in-depth knowledge of the territories they administer.
«It’s about making the streets safer»
«National policies like these – continue the 13 signatory mayors – based not on science, but on political opportunity, they damage the ability of local authorities to make decisions on improving the safety and health of its citizens”, they accuse. Lower speed limits in urban areas – the text continues – are preventing deaths and improving life today in cities across Europe” and “It’s not about limiting the freedom of motorists, but about making the roads safer for everyone, reduce noise and pollution and make the city more inviting for those who choose healthier forms of transport such as walking and cycling.”
