Bergamo. An inherited work, difficult and contested, but at the same time long-awaited, which had a genesis more than twenty years ago and a conclusion today, Saturday 4 May. Parking Fara welcomes the city and its citizens after having lived many lives and passed through the hands of 4 mayors and 5 administrations, effectively crossing a piece of Bergamo’s history: born from an idea of Venetians, I ran through my thoughts, perhaps the most difficult due to the landslide that hit the area, of Brunihaving passed the Tentorio era, ended up on the table of Giorgio Gori who, having collected the inheritance, decided to complete it.
After all, there were two possible paths: the one that would have led the Municipality to undertake a long and demanding dispute also from an economic point of view aimed at putting an end to the project, or rolling up its sleeves and completing it. The completion of this work thus marks the end of an era and not only that relating to the construction site, but also of a council which, in two terms of government, can say it has also put its stamp on this important and impressive intervention which, in a broadened horizon will not only help manage the mobility of the most historic part of the city, but will also represent a functional and valuable tool for redesigning the roads of the Upper Town, fitting into a broader logic that aims to safeguard the places in the hearts of citizens through a logic of quotas and according to a sense of measure that wants nothing more than to preserve the assets of the capital and of the community. A new yardstick, a new scale of values, if we may say so, which on the one hand will still guarantee access to the symbolic place of Bergamo but which, at the same time, will do so in the belief of respect, that of places, without whose beauty could be jeopardized. This, in essence, is the meaning and mission of a project that has seen the light today, even that at the end to the air raid shelter tunnelwhich has also been completely modernized and refurbished, almost like an art gallery dug into the walls, and which will be made available to residents and tourists.
“The car park was wanted 29 years ago by the Veneziani administration and has gone through 5 administrations and 4 mayors – he comments Giorgio Gori, mayor of Bergamo -. Mayor Bruni suffered the consequences of the landslide that hit this place, its collapse, with the opening of investigations into the landslide. Tentorio dropped the issue, which was then taken up by our council. It was 2015, now we’ve reached the bottom. In recent years the meaning of the work has changed, initially conceived with pre-emptive subscriptions for residents – continues the mayor -. With my entire council, and in particular with the councillor Stefano Zenoni, I claim the fact that I did not choose to interrupt the work and thus give rise to a dispute that would have exposed the Municipality to a lawsuit. On the contrary, we have reached an agreement with our partner, Bergamo Parcheggi, to complete the construction site and put an end to a truly long-standing affair. We certainly couldn’t change the fundamental elements of the contract, and we didn’t do so, but we worked on the true meaning of the car park, on its function, so much so that a project was born that benefits the city and its citizens: 64 spaces are were sold to residents, 10 to holders of special permits for citizens with disabilities and the remainder for season tickets and normal rotation. Parking Fara will therefore allow a change in traffic, thanks to the gates and the fact that the car parks on the Walls will change colour, intended for residents: 240 new yellow spaces, thus freeing the squares of the Upper Town from cars. The new mobility of the historic city revolves around this projectwhich will always be accessible even during the times when the ZTL is active but limited to the parking spaces in via Fara”.
“The only access to the car park will be from Porta Sant’Agostino. In the study on mobility we made a commitment to protect these places, reducing the impacts of the work on the territoriesor – concludes Gori -. It would certainly have been more convenient not to continue with the project because it represented an inconvenient legacy. Those who protest today have already come to the Council many times, but they misinterpreted the work because they did not understand that if we had interrupted the project we would have faced a millionaire lawsuit, paid by the citizens. It would have been nice to finish even a few months earlier but we see the glass as half full, the one that gives us an important work that confirms the commitments undertaken by this Council also from an environmental point of view”.
“I am happy to be able to talk about a journey that today finds its fulfillment – he states Enrico Fellipresident of Bergamo Parking -. Special thanks to Marco Brembilla, example of perseverance, commitment and dedication. I’m sure the city will miss the councilor greatly. Parking Fara is a strategic work that will change the habits of citizens and tourists and of which we are well aware of our tasks and the responsibilities we have also and above all towards those who will benefit from it. We plan to manage and implement intelligent gates to make the Upper Town more usable.”
Parking Fara, the inauguration of a public work awaited for over twenty years
“We are inaugurating the car park with all its past and above all its future – he underlines Marco BrembillaCouncilor for Public Works of Municipality of Bergamo -. A first thank you goes to the workers and all the workers who worked. Micromines, tie rods and cableways were the most important tools we deployed to complete a complex and difficult intervention. Today we are inaugurating the car park but also a splendid walkway that will be accessible to all and will allow you to reach the terrace, as well as the former tunnel that will lead to via Solata. I don’t pretend that everyone will like the work, but I can guarantee that everyone, from first to last, really put in all the effort possible to ensure that it was completed.”
“Parking Fara is the cog in a more complex system – he declares Stefano ZenoniMobility Councilor of Municipality of Bergamo -. In the future prospects there is also that of strengthening of local public transport, of a new line that passes right below here and perhaps of the use of the lift even in a different form to that envisaged today. I am very confident about the result obtained: in the next few days I am sure that we will discover that many of the factors that we imagined could represent problems, in reality they will not be. And to those who are worried or protesting, I say that there is no armored Upper Town, but an Upper Town deliberately conditioned to a regulated capacity and parking. In fact, I believe that doing politics is precisely this: seeking a reasonable compromise between different needs and situations.”
“This is the fulfillment of a dream, that of the creation of a car park that will be at the service of tourists, citizens and businesses – he reiterates Johann BreitenederCEO of Bergamo Parking -. But also and above all in favor of everyone, of that individual traffic which represents an important part of mobility. And for the future, within the Fara Parking, we also imagine places for charging the cars themselves as well as strategies that will serve to reduce pollution. Access is guaranteed without stairs to citizens with disabilities, for an Upper Town that is truly for everyone”.
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