No obstacles and zero votes against: the tramway is now a reality. With 20 in favor and 9 abstentions, the city council approves the definitive tram project (T2). As soon as President Roberto Rossini announces the outcome of the vote, a vibrant applause erupts from the majority benches. «The tram becomes fundamental for the growth, development and well-being of our city: it is easy to use, it has no architectural barriers, it is safe, it is fast, it allows regeneration and reduces pollution» declares the mayor Laura Castelletti.
The overall funding of 422 million euros that comes from the Roman ministries “represents the largest public funding that ours has ever had” says deputy mayor Federico Manzoni.
The “father of the project” (as Manzoni was defined by the minority) is convinced of the quality of the infrastructure. «The tram is not an obsolete means of transport from a technological point of view: throughout Europe we are witnessing the return of tramways and the success of this choice».
The vote represents the culmination of a long administrative process, the presence of former councilors and former municipal councilors among the spectators is no coincidence. «This is a revolution that allows citizens to experience all areas of the city without resorting to private transport» says Francesco Tomasini, president of the mobility commission.
The new T2 line and the future T3 do not archive the plans for the extension of the metro towards the north. «There is a false dichotomy between the tram and transport in the province. The PUMS indicates both the T3 and the extension of the metro to the north” specifies Roberto Omodei, leader of the Democratic Party.
Even the opposition chooses a Pilate-like abstention, a rejection of the 422 million euros arriving from the central government would have been complicated to explain to the voters. However, the center-right wants greater dialogue between the Lodge and the citizens. «Mobility has a pervasive impact on our lives, therefore greater involvement of people is needed» explains Mariangela Ferrari (FdI).
THEThe leader of the League, Massimo Tacconi, urges the center-left to think about mobility even outside the city limits to reduce the 200 thousand vehicles that enter the city every day: «The tramway will certainly bring benefits but only to the city, there is a need to extend the subway».
In the coming months, the council will also draw up the construction site plan and will assign the 3.5 million euros for refreshments to commercial activities. But this is not enough to reassure the opposition which criticizes the project due to the obsolete technology, the expense (40 million euros per kilometre), to which will be added the extra costs (all borne by the municipality) and the construction sites which «will the city turned upside down for at least 10 years” underlines Giovanni Posio (FdI). The approval of the final project sets the tram in motion and also some controversy, for the moment covered by the applause of the majority councillors.
The city council opened with the irruption of the feminist activists of “Not One Less Brescia“, who brought their protest to the city’s municipal council to «unmask – we read in the press release – and oppose the anti-abortion rhetoric proposed by the right-wing opposition».
«The question “Measures to help difficult pregnancies” – he continues – it is in fact a real political act through which even the exponents of the right in Brescia – in continuity with the government in office and in alliance with the anti-choice associations – attempt to hinder access to voluntary termination of pregnancy (IVG) and, with it, the right to self-determination of women and pregnant people. The minority’s request to the municipality of Brescia to provide laughable economic aid to women in difficulty, only if they are pregnant, is in fact yet another poorly concealed attempt to manipulate reality through the usual, cloying rhetoric of “support for motherhood”.
The feminist movement «denounces the deafening silence that surrounds the scourge of conscientious objection, which already effectively hinders access to IVG even in our territory. In Lombardy more than 65% of gynecologists working in hospital facilities are conscientious objectors, not to mention that even in Brescia the (illegal) exercise of structural objection by private foundations persists which, however, is financed with regional funds, that is, public and secular”. And there is also something for the Municipality of Brescia: «Although it has an economic asset of millions of euros, it does not ask itself how to implement the funds for counseling centers and anti-violence centers, reduced by the current government, to really support women in difficulty or victims of violence, supporting their freedom of choice.”
