“The right to effective and safe mobility of people and goods is fundamental for the economic and social development of a territory. This right has long been denied to all those who, for work or study reasons or to transfer goods, use the system of public/private transport and goods circulation between Arezzo and Florence”. As Alessandro Tarquinihead of the Arezzo delegation of Confindustria Toscana Sud, intervenes on the increasingly critical mobility between Arezzo and Florence.
The latest fatal accident on Thursday 30 May, with numerous heavy vehicles involved, queues that reached ten kilometers and clogging of Regionale 69 already saturated with traffic, occurred on the motorway, between the Valdarno and Incisa exits. This is yet another accident, just a few weeks after a long series of other accidents which, in addition to deaths and injuries, have caused enormous traffic disruption.
“The construction of the third lane is planned up to the Valdarno toll booth. The project began in 2010, then updated with the new technical standards and will be presented in the executive version for the contract by this summer. The works, as announced a few months ago by Roberto Tomasi, CEO of Autostrade per l’Italia, they should start in 2025 – says Alessandro Tarquini – The creation of the third motorway lane is fundamental above all in terms of safety, but the third lane will not solve the mobility problems in our province, especially since south of the Valdarno toll booth the project has been on hold since 1988. The construction of the third lane from Valdarno to Florence will only shift the growing problems that the Arezzo section of the A1 is experiencing – explains Tarquini – We must bear in mind that the local public transport system, by road and rail, is inadequate for the needs of the area. Train delays, often lasting for hours, on the Chiusi-Arezzo-Valdarno-Florence section are a daily occurrence, causing inconvenience to commuters and causing serious problems. repercussions on the activities of public bodies and private companies. The cause of the delays of regional trains is mainly due to the growing interference with the high-speed lines on the line and at the entrance to the Florence hub, but also to the obsolescence of the rolling stock. In the 2022-2031 industrial plan of the Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane Group, a third lane on the tracks is envisaged (bringing the line from Arezzo to Rovezzano to six tracks) but everything is still pending a feasibility study and also short and medium term RFI solutions concerning the management of regional peak times with the elimination of bowing to high-speed trains were rejected by commuters, above all because they do not ensure the regularity of timetables for morning trains, which should guarantee punctual entry to the workplace. We are aware that infrastructure works are not feasible in the short term and that the reduction of road mobility through the intensification of the rail transport offer of people and goods will become essential. For this reason, we hope that the ongoing dialogue between the public bodies involved with the national leaders of RFI and Trenitalia will provide effective responses, so that in addition to the high-speed offer, the regional public service and freight transport are strengthened” concludes Tarquini.
