Alto Carda Road Project Update: Key Infrastructure Plans Revealed
Within the next two to three weeks, at most a month, the future of Alto Carda’s road infrastructure will receive important answers.
Engineer Claudio Tiso, appointed by the president of the provincial council Lorenzo Dellai, to dedicate “mind and soul” to some pressing issues of Trentino’s road network (including the Rovereto-Riva route and the entire primary road system of Basso Sarca), has postponed his trip to Riva by a few days to present the proposed project choices that will address all the key points of the area: from the connection with Rovereto to the Riva bypass, from the northern section of the Arco bypass to other provincial matters.
Current status of projects and deadlines
The project was supposed to be completed by the end of January, but the typical influenza outbreak depleted the provincial offices’ staff, forcing Tiso to take a few extra days to meet the legitimate expectations of local administrators and residents of Busa.
By the first half of February, however, the plan will be finalized and presented in the area. In any case, some clarity seems to be emerging in the meantime.
Riva bypass situation
One example is the external bypass of Riva, considered by many as a primary intervention, much more necessary than the extension of the Comai bypass.
The hypothesis under which Tiso and his colleagues are focusing their attention is to have the planned tunnel emerge roughly halfway along via Monte Oro, rather than, as was requested months ago by the municipal administration, beyond the Enel power plant near the entrance of the old road to Val di Ledro.
Reasons for the project choice
There are essentially two reasons for this choice. The first (perhaps the most important) is purely economic: from San Giacomo (both of which serve as starting points for the tunnel section) to the Ponale entrance, the rock cutting would be one kilometer and 400 meters; by heading more north, via Monte Oro, the closed segment would be 800 meters.
Six hundred meters of tunnel difference means nearly halving the cost, a “key” issue on which the provincial administrators are particularly sensitive.
The second reason is environmental. Even the recent report commissioned by the municipality from engineer Marra of Trento highlighted several geological issues concerning Rocchetta, especially around the Enel power plant.
Therefore, intervening precisely in that mountain area with a rock tunnel would entail higher risks and certainly higher costs.
This explains the province’s preference for the first solution, with an exit and entrance from the south, approximately near the new parking lot on via Monte Oro.
However, this hypothesis would not solve traffic problems along the lakefront, especially at Piazza Catena and most notably on via Monte Oro.
To avoid the risk of asking too much and ending up empty-handed, the municipality is not opposed to this solution, provided that the possibility of extending the tunnel beyond the current central passage is considered at a later stage.