by Federico Pragliola*
In recent years we have been witnessing a series of construction sites, more or less uninterrupted along our battered E45.
The possibility that the then Renzi Government gave us with around €1,600,000,000 of investments along the route was hailed at the time as the last lifeline for a road that was falling apart at the time, from Orte to Ravenna. In fact, we all (or almost all) agreed at the time on this political and economic assessment. The results have indeed been seen, especially in the sections where the construction sites have been completed or are nearing completion. The most obvious impact is on the draining capacity of the latest generation asphalt which allows us to avoid many risks that road commuters can often incur. Other types of work are of lesser impact although very important: retaining walls – traffic islands – signs and much more. For and with this, great praise goes to Anas for the work he has done in recent years, also because intellectual honesty must allow us to create added value to the contribution that civil society must make.
However, a very important element emerges, on which no one can back down and which first and foremost involves the final political decision maker: the timing of the construction sites and their coordination. It is true that the resources must be spent within a given time with certainty of allocation and project, it is true that Anas must arrange for the construction site to be set up within the indicated dates with related bureaucracy, but the main routes leading to our cities are the subject of works long and which have a heavy impact on the daily lives of many Umbrians. Let’s take for example the Terni – Perugia route which in “normal” conditions can be covered in a maximum of 45 minutes. These days we have 3 construction sites, 2 of which are extremely impactful such as that of Sangemini and Ripabianca, which have recently been reduced but are equally impactful. Result: at least 15 minutes more which, for a commuter, is 30 minutes a day. Hoping that nothing happens like, for example, what happened in the last few days consecutively at the Sangemini gallery!
Even though the works are not only necessary but also necessary, common sense would like us to be able to work in order to reduce the inconvenience and the timescales as much as possible, but instead we often find ourselves passing by the construction site where we are not working and, which still more anger, seeing that on holidays everything is still. The same goes for the construction site: what is the point of starting a construction site in Massa Martana when the one in Sangemini has been active for two months, far from being finished? It would be advisable to finish one and start another so as to have as little impact as possible, especially when the distance is so close.
Another issue concerns that of the quality of the works: a simple downpour in recent days between Todi and Marsciano (the construction site closed a few weeks ago) was enough to verify how aquaplaning close to the brand new traffic island is a phenomenon that has far from disappeared, on the contrary! The same goes for the stretch near Umbertide, or in the areas of the Perugia or Nera Montoro tunnels.
I believe that the Umbria Region, decision maker and political evaluator, must make itself heard very forcefully in the institutional bodies in order to reduce as much as possible the inconveniences and the possibility of accidents as unfortunately in the last few days with the consequences of blocking a fundamental artery of the national road axis and allow all heavy vehicles to pass through narrow provincial roads (Sangemini docet). But the use of E45 by international carriers who thus do not pay for the highway and in doing so destroy our roads leaving crumbs is another age-old historical issue on which millions of words have been spent.
The hardships that Umbrian citizens are experiencing are very high and impact on the quality of life, it would be appropriate for those who represent the numerous requests to be able to then draw inspiration from them to bang their fists on the table to protect the collective interest.
*we receive and publish a reader’s letter
