Livorno Twenty-nine barriers overlooking the sea in one kilometre. Placed for safety reasons. To point out the many potholes the size of craters along the promenade in front of the Universal hotel. About forty meters ko.
To ban access to the nearby Cabianca dog beach (a bay in very poor condition anyway) due to collapses. Still barriers again for reasons of public safety to prevent going onto the main road ahead: here too a landslide. And they even fell onto the Calalonga bay below, including part of the wall and the wooden handrail. All this with summer just around the corner. Here Antignano, in that part of the seafront dear to the Macchiaioli.
From the Baretto dei Tre Ponti to the Scoglio della Ballerina it is 950 meters if you take Viale Italia on the road side. Google Map says so. A minute by car, 13 minutes on foot (maybe a little more if you pass by the sea, in fact) and a slalom of red and white barriers that have been there for months. They were placed after the damage of the violent storms in November and December last year.
The barriers are even more noticeable in good weather. They tolerate each other less and less. And they raise many doubts among the people of Livorno. Citizens who report this situation which has been going on for some time. People wondering when that part of the seafront that is so popular and appreciated will be restored. When the expected restoration works will begin which in other parts of the promenade (Terrace, aquarium walkway and Ardenza seafront), always marred by the past violence of the sea, were immediately carried out and practically completed. But there is a reason. And Mayor Luca Salvetti explains it by knowing the situation in Antignano well. And for which he defines himself as “angry”.
The mayor explains the reasons: «I remind you that all the work carried out up to now is extremely urgent with regional resources, which in turn come from the Government, amounting to 1 million and 200 thousand euros: these contributions with which we immediately intervened on the the first three sections of the seafront, namely the Terrazza Mascagni, the aquarium walkway and the Ardenza seafront are practically finished and we are now waiting for confirmation of new regional funding of 400 thousand euros to complete the Antignano stretch – and it goes into detail – I am a little annoyed by the fact that this chain of financing that starts from the Government and reaches us through the Region has become stuck and is struggling to unblock. The works in Antignano are waiting for this hitch on economic coverage to be resolved.” In recent days, a face to face meeting with the regional councilor Monia Monni to obtain reassurances and economic confirmations to open the construction site in Antignano. At the moment, a red chemical mobile toilet and a gray hut have been placed near the part of the craters in front of the Universal. Waiting for the construction site. Both were hacked, unfortunately. Open. At least that’s the case yesterday, Tuesday 7 May.
«We are counting on the situation to be resolved, to start with the construction site and restore that entire stretch of seafront by the real start of summer. Luckily, the road-side Viale di Antignano has been redone and I see that it is appreciated.”
Salvetti is keen to underline, however, his satisfaction with the timing and promptness of intervention to restore the damage from the storms starting from the following day. And so it is. In recent weeks the parapet in front of the statue of the Sailor of Tarrini was completed. Restored. So is the part underneath.
Even the potholes that had formed along the promenade in front of the Baracchina Rossa, also in Ardenza, are no longer there. Same thing for the part of the devastated wall next to the Onde Del Tirreno bathrooms, which is now as good as new.
However, in all these works underway and completed on the seafront, the Municipality awaits the opinion of the Superintendence. Now the hope is that it will also touch that part of the seafront dear to great painters such as Giovanni Fattori and Giovanni Lomi. L
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