Going from Florence to Bologna or in general to Emilia Romagna via the A1 is a real undertaking. There is no word that defines it better a journey that couldn’t be more intermittent between accidents (you can even find a couple of them on the same route), restrictions or forced exits due to works, and kilometers to travel in a single lane for the large presence of trucks. Until they start overtaking each other.
The northern stretch of the Tuscan A1 is, in short, a lot. You know when you leave and not when you arrive because anything can happen in the middle of the traffic jam. Every strategy is rendered futile by events. The only certainty is that sooner or later you will have to wait in linewhether it is in front of the church of San Giovanni Battista (the famous «Church of the motorway») just before the Firenze Nord rest area, or on the Apennines.
Anyone who tries to leave on time in the morning is proven wrong by the classic daily accident. When we carried out this “test”, for example, an endless queue had formed after a car hit a motorway vehicle and caught fire. On the contrary, until a few weeks ago in the evening we had to deal with the closures in Mugello, with the result of having to circumnavigate Bilancino together with the trucks.
When we entered the A1 in the afternoon, we were immediately greeted by a sign reporting another accident, this time at km 276, which had caused a 4km queue.
We left at 12.35, only at 1.30 did we arrive in Calenzano after traveling at walking pace. Here we were greeted by a reduction to two lanes due to a construction site, and another slowdown. Along the queue, we also witnessed a nice argument due to a car transporter (the wagons that transport cars) which continued to zig-zag between the lanes, irritating the driver of a Jeep who got out of the car and went to offend him at the window. It’s certainly nothing new for the Far West which becomes that stretch of the A1 every day. And, it must be admitted, it is not easy to resist nervousness.
Only after passing the point of the accident (we repeat, there are plenty of them) did we start traveling again at a decent speed, even if in one lane because the one on the right remained entirely occupied by trucks. Yes, they are standing still in the queue. On the left we were accompanied by a red net which had the task of covering the work in progress.
At 1.40pm, a precise time before departure, we managed to go without a hitch, however always on one lane. From the height of Barberino onwards, the line of trucks also thinned out.
At 1.50pm we arrived at the Firenzuola exit without having found any impediments apart from yet another narrowing of the roadway.
The return journey was much calmer, in which we managed to keep our foot on the accelerator and not on the brake and go at a constant speed. But at peak times the situation gets worse there too. A perpetual traffic jam.
