Sassari What future for underground parking in Sassari? It will be one of the first decisions that the municipal administration led by Giuseppe Mascia will have to take on as soon as it takes office in the coming weeks. The topic may not seem too compelling, but it is decisive when it comes to traffic, mobility and citizens’ quality of life. It is certainly complex, also because in Sassari the underground car parks are divided between two managements.
Apcoa The most urgent issue concerns the structures of via dei Mille, piazza Mercato and viale Dante. The three underground car parks are managed by the Apcoa company, but the contract is expiring. In March the company sent the municipal administration a very specific proposal: «We carry out structural and technological renovations within the three underground structures and also renew the management service. In exchange, the Municipality entrusts them to us as a concession for the next thirty years.” This is the period of time necessary, according to the estimates and calculations in the economic-financial plan, to recoup the substantial investments announced and planned by Apcoa. A very long period, during which six mayors would take turns at Palazzo Ducale. Precisely for this reason, with great institutional correctness, the administration of Nanni Campus decided not to decide at the end of May, postponing the hot potato to the winners of the elections. Silence could not be an option, because the response to Apcoa’s proposal had to be provided within 90 days of the presentation of the project. In the meantime, however, we cannot risk the underground car parks closing their doors, with the contract expiring. The Campus administration has therefore decided to launch a new tender, offering a concession for a maximum duration of 12 months. Not only for the three car parks, but also for the service bike sharing in the Ospedali, Emiciclo and Magistero stations and inside the car park on Via dei Mille. A fundamental service in a modern city, but everything to be reinvented in Sassari. The tender will buy some time, but the incoming administration will have to quickly decide what to do: accept Apcoa’s proposal, if it is resubmitted, ask other operators or perhaps carry out autonomous management. The possibilities are many.
Sheba The second lot to manage concerns the other half of the city’s underground car parks, those managed by the Catalan multinational Saba: Emiciclo Garibaldi, Piazza Fiume and then the third, which only exists on paper. One thing is certain, it will not be done in Piazza Mazzotti, where the probability of archaeological discoveries is close to 100 percent. Same reason why the aspirations of those who would like it in University Square also seem destined to remain unfulfilled. Where to do it then? At the end of 2023, the existence of a negotiation emerged between the Municipality and Saba which had a green area at its center in via Zanfarino, between via Torino and via Tempio, but the hypothesis is unwelcome to many and there are those who he would prefer the recovery of the Corte Santa Maria car park. In any case, any decision on Apcoa and Saba will have to be taken carefully, because the future of city mobility passes through here too.
