Mas summer approaches bringing a vague hope of travel and holidays, Turin motorists find themselves faced with a very different reality: endless construction sites, endless queues and a real siege of road works.
Starting from Sunday 5 May, a new chapter of inconveniences opened with the resumption of deep rehabilitation works on the Turin ring road (near Venaria), creating a real nightmare for those traveling around the city.
The Turin ring road: a continuous construction site
The section between km 6+610 and km 5+710 of the southern ring road will be the scene of intense rehabilitation activities which will require closures and lane reductions that will test the patience of motorists.
Night-time closures and traffic restrictions promise to turn every journey into a true odyssey.
Marco, a commuter from Turin, expresses his frustration: “Can’t they do these jobs in August, working day and night? Today from Caselle to Pianezza it was a single queue. Everything in first and second gear, never happened in 20 years of the ring road…”
A daily nightmare for motorists
Francesco, another local driver, shares his daily experience: “From Settimo Torinese to Orbassano, about 27 km in 2 hours round and round. There were many of us, there with a hopeful gaze towards the horizon… See you tomorrow afternoon, same time, more or less the same kilometre.”
The voice of the transporters: a cry of alarm
Not only motorists are victims of this situation, but transporters also find themselves in disastrous conditions.
Lhe Federation of Italian Road Transporters (FAI) of Turin reports a dramatic situationa, with a devastating impact on the productivity of businesses and the economy of the regions. “The risk of forecasts of immovable construction sites will further contribute to the already difficult conditions faced by commercial transport serving Piedmont and Liguria,” states Gian Luca Timossi, Provincial Secretary of the FAI of Turin.
Urgent intervention request
FAI Turin requests the establishment of a working group with the Prefecture and the motorway concessionaires to organize the construction sites in order to reduce the impact on traffic as much as possible. “Piedmont is experiencing a phase of now dramatic infrastructural isolation,” underlines Enzo Pompilio D’Alicandro, President of FAI Turin.
An uncertain future
With frequent closures at the Mont Blanc Tunnel and the second tube of the Frejus not yet in operation, connections with France remain precarious. The Alpine passes and the incomplete eastern ring road of Turin add further complications to an already unsustainable situation.
In conclusion, as summer approaches, motorists and hauliers in Turin and Piedmont face a period of authentic road chaos.
Between works, interruptions, and landslides, the summer season does not promise relaxing trips, but long hours of waiting, hoping for a future of improved infrastructure.
