The start of the works that will lead to the total pedestrianization of Via Roma in Turin is approaching. The construction site should open within the first quarter of 2025, after the tender in the next few months and the subsequent deliberative process. As councilor Chiara Foglietta explained during the Urban Planning commission, it will not just be about closing to traffic but about a profound restructuring of the historic city street.
The works, financed for approximately 12 million essentially with funds Pon Metro Plus, will start from lot 1, corresponding to the already pedestrianized Castello/San Carlo section, which is expected to last 14 months. The bitumen paving will be removed and replaced with stone slabs. Furthermore, the ground level will be raised so as to bring the entire street to the same level, below and outside the porticoes. For the occasion, there will be interventions on the waterproofing (in correspondence, there is the underground car park) and the rainwater canalization will be completely reorganised.
As regards the section south of Piazza San Carlo, the works will start a few months later and will be divided into two lots: up to Via Cavour and from there up to Piazza Carlo Felice. Here, the current stone slabs will be removed and then replaced; this stretch of via Roma will also be brought to a homogeneous countryside level, once the waterproofing renovation and rainwater canalization works have been carried out.
In total, the paving interventions will involve an area of approximately 12,000 square metres. Along the more than 700 meters of the street various architectural elements will be positioned (planters or benches, bollards…), in a lateral position to allow ample pedestrian flow, for example on the occasion of historical events or parades.
The shopping street par excellence, once the new structure is completed, will still be able to be crossed by vehicles on the east-west axis. An innovation will concern the connection of Via Roma onto Piazza Castello. Pedestrian flow will be facilitated, also through the abolition of the current “U-turn” which allows vehicles coming from the Royal Gardens, therefore from the northern area of the city, to head towards Via Po. To reach the latter, they will be able to turn left directly at its intersection with Piazza Castello. The new Via Roma should be completed by the first half of 2026, not far from the 90% anniversary of the inauguration of the stretch up to Piazza Carlo Felice (1938).
