ANCONA Two years late. The last goal set for this summer: promptly denied. The bus station Verrocchio, at Palombella, is a haunted construction site. «We hope to see it functioning by June 2025» announces the councilor for public works, Stefano Tombolini. Another round of roulette for the structure which has been waiting to be reborn since February 2021, the date of the contract awarded to Consorzio Rennova (the cost of the work is 2.8 million euros). Eighteen months for the dismantling of the construction site. Needless to say, a series of vicissitudes and stumbles occurred. From the high cost of raw materials to a series of non-compliances by the company complete with reminders and penalties applied by the Municipality.
Obstacle process
Having overcome the impasse “we have renewed our trust in the company” reiterates Tombolini. But the progress towards completing the structure is still slow. The last obstacle that slowed down the roadmap was the glass cladding of the building. «The Municipality sent a balance of 270 thousand euros to the company for the purchase of materials» the councilor says. «The glass has been ordered – assures the works director, the architect Andrea Marasca -. They will be delivered and installed shortly.” Marasca is optimistic: «The goal is to finish the work by the end of the year, the false ceilings of the structure, the paving of the squares and the parking lot still need to be completed». But there is also a whole other issue to settle: that of plant engineering.
Digital management
Once the structure and the exchange car park have been completed, in fact, it will be necessary to make the whole part of the digital management of the services functional: computer boards with departure and arrival times of the buses of the extra-urban line, plus the entire opening/closing system of the exchange park (250 spaces ) which includes ticket reading, access bars and screens indicating the number of free stalls. Not to mention the lighting. The Municipality managed to intercept 1 million euros for the construction of digital systems by moving the sum initially allocated for the suburbs tender to the Verrocchio project. The deadline for putting an end to the construction site is set for June 2025 because “that is the deadline for reporting the transfer of the million euros to the Ministry”.
The decision
The contract for the plant engineering, however, has not yet been awarded. «We will evaluate whether to continue with the Rennova Consortium or not» explains Tombolini, who however reveals a logistical convenience in not taking the route of a re-contracting to third parties. But that’s not all: assuming that next summer we arrive with the entire structure completed, we will then be entrusted with the management of the building’s premises. In addition to user services, it is likely that an area will be used by bus drivers. But others would remain outside, on the ground floor, where Tombolini imagines “commercial activities to support users of the service and to enhance the area”. But there is still no trace of public competitions.
«We are discussing it with the mayor» assures Tombolini, however. The long process of the garage, in any case, is a journey full of misfortunes. From March 2021, start of work, to the first stop due to the high cost of raw materials which forced the postponement of the delivery of the construction site from September 2022 to January 2023. Then a postponement to autumn 2023 and yet another to spring 2024. Followed by announcement by the Municipality of the end of construction in July 2024. Finally, the peremptory deadline: June 2025. Once that too is resolved, it would truly be the end of the line. But not buses. Goodbye financing, goodbye project.
