One year after the flood which affected the territories ofEmilia Romagnaon the occasion of the stage of Tour of Italy to Riccione we wanted to remember the commitment put in place by Motorways for Italy together with State Police and all the rescue teams that intervened in the area during the emergency days. Today before the departure from Riccione the awards of the Heroes of Security, an initiative now in its thirteenth edition and born from the collaboration between the State Police and Autostrade per l’Italia, to enhance the work of the agents and motorway workers who every day monitor the traffic on the high-flow arteries throughout the country .
On the occasion of this stage, the State Police Agents were awarded by ASPI Daniele Cristoni And Luca de Tomasi. The Traffic Police instead awarded recognition for the commitment and courage shown during the flood events to all the teams on the Bologna section of Autostrade per l’Italia involved in the emergency, in particular to Massimiliano Pigatto and Cristian Bruni, who distinguished between the operators of the operating unit and the technical organization.
“In those days – as the Director of the Bologna section of ASPI recalled, Stephen Vimercati – we worked, day and night, to make the motorway usable again in the shortest possible time to guarantee complete access to the cities for the emergency vehicles that needed to be able to pass and reach their destination. The Autostrade per l’Italia Group has always remained united and has remained close to the community. In those hours we all felt the responsibility of having to give our best to guarantee immediate results. Thanks to the wonderful team that worked on the field, we managed to reopen the sections most damaged by the bad weather in record time and we were close to the territories, on the front line. What I will always carry with me is the gratitude of the people we helped.”
“The interventions in dangerous and urgent situations demonstrate how the women and men of the State Police are daily engaged in rescue and help activities for citizens. The protection of road users has always been a priority of the Traffic Police which often operates in extremely difficult conditions” declares the Director of the Traffic Police Department for Emilia-Romagna Simonetta Lo Brutto. “The traffic police were constantly busy monitoring the roads and ensuring traffic safety on those delicate days, coordinating rescue operations and facilitating the reaching of the most isolated hamlets, with the spirit of sacrifice and self-sacrifice that always inspire the work of men and women in uniform. The same spirit of sacrifice that the colleagues awarded today demonstrated, a clear expression of the professionalism and empathy that have always characterized the State Police”.
Over the course of the different stages of the Giro, the sports awards stage will host a total of eleven traffic police operators, with whom ASPI works in close collaboration on a daily basis to guarantee the safety of users traveling on the motorways. At the same time, the Traffic Police will award recognition along the stages from the South to the North of Italy to ten operators of the Autostrade per l’Italia Group who have demonstrated strong dedication to their work, putting skills and commitment at the service of users which are well suited beyond their daily duties.
