Architect Giuseppe Di Giampietro, of the Saline.Marina.PP1 Montesilvano committee, criticizes the redevelopment project of the central traffic island in via Alberto D’Andrea, in Montesilvano, which “suddenly rained from above, after years of neglect” : “The PP1 district, i.e. the detailed plan no. 1, from 1996, in the hotel and conference center area, for 5,000-7,000 inhabitants, commissioned by the builder Michele D’Andrea (to whose architect son, who died prematurely, the avenue is dedicated) was built to a design by Riccardo Bofill, Catalan architect and father of Barcelona of the 1992 Olympics, signed by the architect Canale of the city’s UTC”, recalls Di Giampietro.
“The design of the neighborhood was organized on a 30-metre boulevard, from the city center station to the sea, Corso Strasburgo, and a “paseo” (tree-lined pedestrian promenade) orthogonal to it, towards the river, Viale D’Andrea. All The intersection between the two avenues will be the large Piazza Germania. The neighborhood is incomplete, having been standing still for almost 20 years monumental”paseo” D’Andrea, is now being destroyed, losing the design of the avenue, to create small communal gardens and a theater in the wrong place”.
The creation of “micro condominium gardens in the central parterre”, however, “fragments the space, losing the design of the tree-lined avenue. The sandboxes, “original” in a city that has the beach just a few hundred meters away, risk becoming a receptacle for every type of waste. The space appears like a catalog of outdoor equipment, which risks rapid obsolescence, without maintenance and control. The 200-seat theater is useless for summer shows for thousands of people, located at a road junction given for the large rotation island at the foot of the Delli Castelli bridge on the Saline river”, highlights Di Giampietro.
Furthermore, “there is a lack of indications for cycle paths, for the route and stops of the TPL trolleybus, for the safe pedestrian crossing of via Alberto D’Andrea and, above all, a carriageway of the avenue is closed (from the bridge towards via Aldo Moro, creating a serious danger for road safety, conveying the traffic exiting the bridge onto a dangerous intersection such as those of via Moro-England, on a curve, with 4 arms, with fast traffic, without a third acceleration lane”.
On May 21st, recalls Di Giampietro, a public debate on the project was held in the neighborhood in the presence of the city’s mayoral candidate Fabrizio D’Addazio. Criticisms and proposals were discussed. Di Giampietro invites “to review the design choices, in collaboration with the designers of the neighborhood, for a project consistent with the original urban design, with greenery and trees, monumental treatment and continuity of the public space on the axis from via Luxembourg and the future square Germany, at the roundabout on the river, terminal of the Delli Castelli bridge”.
Finally, managers, planners and decision makers are warned “from adopting useless and dangerous solutions, such as closing the via D’Andrea branch returning between the bridge and via A. Moro, which is much safer for entering via A. Moro of the dangerous intersection with via England towards which it is intended to concentrate traffic. We are also invited to urgently initiate a detailed PUT of the PP1 district, within the PUMS of Nuova Pescara, which addresses the issues of the trolleybus route and stop TPL, cycle paths, the continuity of spaces and pedestrian paths, traffic calming and Zone 30, the large road network of the equipped North axis and the new 3-lane route of the A14”, concludes Di Giampietro.
