ROVERETO. From the Valdasticoat the traffic in the city, from the challenges of trade to the tourism And at the University: There are many central themes that will have to be addressed in the next five years face to Rovereto and, in view of municipal of May 26th, the Dolomites has posed a series of requests to the five mayoral candidates for the City of Oak. Here is Rovereto’s idea Milo Marsilimayoral candidate for Sovereign and Popular Democracy.
1) At provincial level, among the most important projects being discussed, two could have a direct impact on the Rovereto area: the extension of the A31 Valdastico, with a possible exit at Rovereto Sud, and the construction of the plant (waste-to-energy plant) for the closure of the waste cycle in Trentino. What is your opinion on these two great design hypotheses?
The territories have already expressed their views on Valdastico in terms clearly opposed to its creation. We at DSP are with the people who reasoned and decided in this sense, however we agree that it is absolutely inappropriate to carry out this work; in fact, it would be grafted onto an extremely fragile territory, which already needs to be made safe, let alone following the expected underground devastation. The possible infiltrations into the aquifers and the risks for the Spino aqueduct must be remembered. All this in the almost prevalent interest of the Veneto and Zaia, to transform our territory into a road corridor towards Austria and Germany with more pollution, with the greater probability that the people of Trentino will go shopping in the Vicenza area and without related activities for our territory. We do not understand the fury of those who persist in despising this popular will. As for the waste-to-energy plant, for the moment it appears that the Bolzano incinerator is under-used. It is not at all appropriate to dot the territory with waste-to-energy plants which, due to the low load of material to be burned, become more polluting and require more fuel to function.
2) What are the challenges for commerce in the city in the coming years? What are the first initiatives to be implemented to support and relaunch the sector?
To help trade, first of all, mechanisms must be established that regulate rental prices for merchants. The fight against the phenomenon of vacant premises in the city center requires a renewed approach to rental price policy which unfortunately is not played at a strictly municipal level. We need a streamlining of bureaucratic procedures for traders. We must also work on more service roads for the commercial activities of the centre. The imbalance implemented in favor of the large shopping centers and supermarkets (too many and without rules) located on the main road axis of state road 12 and Via del Garda must be reviewed. Excessive investments on the main road crossing (which struggles to contemplate the city center) fatally weaken the nearby shops and unleash ruthless competition between giants with extraterritorial headquarters and with high rates of exploitation of workers to whom (in the contingent energy crisis ) there remain few economic opportunities to introduce into the local economy circuit.
3) One of the big issues in the city is that of traffic: from the discussions regarding the ZTL in the center to the division on the north-south axis represented by State Road 12 (with the well-known queues and traffic slowdowns particularly at rush hours), What are the priorities to be implemented in the city? How can we work to resolve critical issues? Should the pedestrianization process of the center be expanded?
The entire road system must be re-discussed in agreement with the parties and with a real debate and not one imposed from above. The appropriateness of closing Via Fontana and Via Dante Boulevard will have to be questioned in light of the experience. Yes, it will be possible to evaluate the possible future burial of the state road in the area of the train station and the east-west unification (by sending the railway under). This study will be linked to the problematic topic of the Rovereto railway bypass, the opportunity of which remains to be verified, with a true and transparent debate (perhaps with more serious projects than those fleetingly shown by RFI at the recent presentation meeting). On Piazzale Orsi there is also the problem of the pedestrian and cycle underpass, the construction of which is going really too slowly (why?). The recalibration of road flows in the center and the rethinking of the prohibitions in Corso Rosmini should ease queues and traffic slowdowns on the state road. Greater connections are needed with the surrounding municipalities and with the mountain and lake tourist areas. A mobility plan for Rovereto and Vallagarina must be set up with the surrounding municipalities and public transport agencies which makes alternatives to the private car preferable by:
– parking lots outside the city connected by free shuttles
– the improvement of public transport in terms of frequency and physical and economic accessibility
– the rationalization and completion of existing cycle and pedestrian paths, favoring separate lanes and establishing protected and covered supervised parking for bicycles
– the creation and revision of main cycle routes to connect points of the city with specific service nodes
– the adoption of vehicles accessible on call, or on a continuous cycle, to encourage the mobility of the elderly and disabled
– the elimination of architectural barriers for greater ease of movement and access to wheelchairs.
It is necessary to support the light rail from Ala to Lavis, to reduce commuter car traffic and facilitate travel; rationalize public transport with adequate and uniform passage frequencies throughout the day; extend discounted fares to citizens of all ages to encourage the use of public transport. The pedestrianization process of the center should not be expanded without first equipping itself with a widespread and efficient public transport system.
4) Several citizens complain about a loss of ‘vitality’ in the city. Does Rovereto need a boost to relaunch its attractiveness, also towards young people? How can we intervene in this context (also from a tourism and event offering point of view)?
We share the analysis relating to the loss of ‘vitality’ in the city, Rovereto needs a push to relaunch its attractiveness, especially towards young people and university students. The city center, increasingly dull, can return to being alive and animated by clubs even in the evening, which act as agencies for socialization and control of the territory. The recreational liveliness does not only consist in the consumption of alcohol and bar products, but in incentives for cultural evenings: music, artistic performances, exhibitions of paintings and photographers. Responsible entertainment requires a little tolerance on the part of lovers of absolute quiet and respect on the part of lovers of chaos. A compromise must be found between the death of the historic center in the evening and the liveliness, the joy of living and the need for socialisation, respecting the quiet but without exaggerating. In the eighties/nineties we had two discos in the city, two in the surrounding area plus those in Trento and Pergine as well as those in the neighboring tourist areas, four cinemas. There was a swarm of parties, festivals, dancing events, concerts. Now from this point of view the situation is desolate and alienating. The municipality can do its part. It is necessary to look for concessions that simplify the bureaucratic complexities through the active intermediation of the municipal institution, curbing the “freedom” to organize mass events aimed at strengthening the sense of community involving operators and associations of all kinds.
5) Rovereto’s university offering has been growing in recent years: is it necessary to work to make the City of the Oak increasingly competitive from this point of view? What are the priorities to follow?
Investing in universities and education in general is investing in the future, not just the citizen. The watchword must not be competitiveness but universality. Therefore, not a corporate approach but a humanistic one. We need to return to the cult of critical thinking and not of turnover as an end in itself. Even more so in our territory which, following globalisation, delocalisation and the financialisation of profits, has lost its local industrial identity and therefore that well-being which during the years of the economic boom had led us to be the Athens of Trentino. The already described relaunch of the historic center and transport can make the city more attractive for local and off-site students (also for post-study evening life). We must push with the rectorate and the province to activate some other department in the city or transfer it to Rovereto from the capital so burdened and constipated by increasingly entropic functions. The Manufacturing, underutilized as it is, could be an optimal location.
: “Relaunch the historic centre. The Commerce? We think about controlled rents. Reevaluate the closure of via Fontana and via Dante”){kind=link}