Create a large interchange near that road where motorists are stuck in queues for 7 hours a day. It will happen in Monza in Sant’Alessandro with the construction (in 415 days of construction) of the upgrading of the A52-A4 interconnection. An intervention that residents define as madness. A position that the Committee of the via Gentili, Talete and Aristotele of Monza have been pursuing for over a year and which they have now decided to write in black and white in the document of observations on the EIA (Environmental Impact Assessments) which has been sent to the Ministry, to the Region Lombardy, the Province of Monza and the Municipality of Monza.
The no to the maxi project
In the document the Committee reiterates why it is against the work (primarily for the strong environmental and social impact that the infrastructure will have on the neighbourhood; for that 70 meter long open tunnel which will pass near the schools, the sports field and the gym; those risks of exposure to carcinogenic substances also directly expressed in the official document of the Ministry…) but first of all it explains why that maxi road could be of no use. The intention was to speed up connections to Bormio in anticipation of the Milan-Cortina 2026 Olympics but, as reiterated several times, it will not be able to be ready for that date in any case. The Region (which financed it with 42 million euros) reiterated the need for its construction, which should lead to a reduction in travel times up to the junction with the SS36 of approximately 9 minutes.
Where you stand still in queues
But for the Committee this calculation is wrong because it does not take into account the traffic saturation in that part of the city. “From 7 in the morning until 10.30-11 in the direction of Milan (viale Zara and junction for the A4 Tangenziale Ovest) there is a single queue – explains Lorenzo Villa, vice-president of the Vie Gentili, Talete and Aristotele Committee of Monza -. The same occurs in the afternoon from 4.45pm to 8.30pm in the opposite direction towards Lecco. Therefore the estimated reduction in travel times, which would justify the intervention from an economic point of view, is completely lost due to the queue that will still form when joining the Ss36, even with the modification of the junction”. In other words, there is a single traffic – which in Monza also blocks the entire San Rocco district at the same time on the bridge of via Marconi, via Montesanto, viale delle Industrie, via Aquileia, via Borgazzi – which would not speed up the transit of cars as the project envisages. Because the cars remain stationary in the queue before arriving at the junction.
“This work is useless”
A further bottling without greater benefits for motorists, but with possible damage to the health of the inhabitants of the San Rocco district who already suffer the inconvenience of being close to very busy road arteries. “The work, according to the study presented, from an environmental point of view, in terms of the production of air pollutants, does not entail their reduction since a quantity of traffic equal to the existing one is foreseen, but rather it would put at risk health due to carcinogenic effects on a significant portion of the neighborhood’s population due to the open-air trench layout adhering to homes, schools and sports facilities – adds Lorenzo Villa – From this point of view, the construction of the work appears to be a transport choice incompatible with the need to reduce air pollution and the release of greenhouse gases. Investing such a large sum to have no environmental benefit, but rather a worsening of it, and not even to have an economic benefit, appears illogical and contradictory with the objectives of the economic transition, a waste of precious resources, in a country that has investment difficulties due to lack of resources”. In recent days the Municipality of Monza has sent comments to the Ministry asking for the tunnel to be covered and for a series of environmental compensations requested by residents.
