The fourth lot of the Variante Aurelia, when and if it occurs, may no longer look to the Val di Vara but again to the Val di Magra. This is what transpired this morning on the sidelines of the inspection carried out in Buonviaggio on the construction site of section A of the La Spezia tunnel ring road, which from San Benedetto will reach the La Spezia-Santo Stefano Magra motorway junction at Melara starting in 2026.
“In past years there was talk of a fourth lot towards the Val di Vara, we need to see with the government whether that is still a viable line or not – he said Giacomo Giampedrone, regional councilor for infrastructures -. And in this case, consider a different development, as Confindustria did recently, trying to think of an alternative scenario to the La Spezia-Santo Stefano Magra motorway junction. The city and the port are connected only and exclusively by that type of road system today and this could be an element of weakness”.
The project for the La Spezia Nord toll booth along the A12 near Cavanella Vara, to then be connected to the Variante Aurelia in San Benedetto through a new road network in the Riccò del Golfo area, would go into the attic, or at least into the closet. A project that began to be talked about in the 1990s and which was brought to CIPE at the beginning of the millennium. Alternatively, the hypothesis that is now emerging is to connect the western area of the city, potentially also the former Enel area of Vallegrande with its power plant being decommissioned, with the Arcola plain. An alternative axis to the single Salt motorway junction potentially serving the commercial port, the defense industry district and the Blue Mile.
We are still in the field of the future, given that the horizon for completing the third batch of the Variant is 2026 and there are still technically complex steps to complete. Among these is the completion of the Felettino I Tunnel, its central 200 meters still to be excavated in a geologically delicate area. And again the Fornaci I Tunnel, which in a stretch passes under the Tyrrhenian railway line at a distance of a few meters.
However, the idea of doubling the Aurelia on that axis too is starting to circulate. “We have received input to give priority to entering the city from Santo Stefano Magra – confirms the president Giovanni Toti -. Imagining a bypass that connects the Val di Magra to the La Spezia port and this sort of ring road that reaches Riccò del Golfo and the Val di Vara would be very useful. We are talking about it with Deputy Minister Rixi. For now the focus is on finishing the Aurelia Variant, but we are ready to think about further improvements in the future.”
