Garda Road Overhaul Estimated at 400 Billion Euros for Safety and Tourism
“There is not only the Limone-Riva tunnel: the entire western Garda road needs restructuring, with interventions costing at least 400 billion euros.” This rough but sensible estimate is shared by the president of the Comunità montana dell’Alto Garda, Bruno Faustini, and the provincial public works assessor, Mauro Parolini. They speak of a “generalized deterioration of Gardesana, which requires a comprehensive intervention.”
Recently, there is satisfaction because, with record time, the tunnel between Limone and Riva could be inaugurated with great fanfare by the President of Italy, Carlo Azeglio Ciampi, as early as July 8, or by the latest July 28. But the traffic conditions of the upper lake need much more, and local administrators are well aware of this.
Necessary interventions and cost estimates
The “shopping list” is long: a new interchange in Tignale, a series of widenings at choke points, an expansion of the tunnel’s lumen in all sections, new tunnels in Forbisicle, Limone, and Voltino (where there is, among other things, a problem with a 5,000 cubic meter boulder threatening the road, which must be crushed before new interventions can be planned).
Even Anas, the Italian national highway authority, has realized this, having drafted a list of necessary safety interventions for western Gardesana a month ago and sent it to the Department of Civil Protection of the Ministry of the Interior. The document estimates costs at 260 billion euros.
“The Anas document clearly identifies the objectives,” admits provincial assessor Parolini, “which are the same as ours. But their estimates are underestimated: in our view, we need three or four hundred billion euros. They mention 80 billion for the Tignale interchange, 45 billion for minor widenings, 45 billion for existing tunnels, plus another 100 billion for Forbisicle, Limone, and Voltino. More is required,” Parolini continues, “because Gardesana is facing an overall degradation that demands a comprehensive intervention. It should be just a road like any other: open all year, not closed sometimes here, sometimes there.”
Opinions of administrators and environmental aspects
Bruno Faustini, president of the Comunità montana dell’Alto Garda, agrees on the estimates: “At least 400 billion euros are needed. One aspect to highlight, overlooked so far by Anas, is the usability of the road from Salò to Gargnano, where traffic issues really need to be addressed. We expect the new government to take our situation to heart and to allocate funds at a rapid rate of 50 billion euros per year.”
Billions, roads, asphalt, and concrete. But other aspects are also involved: tourism, landscape. Gardesana runs along one of the most beautiful landscapes in northern Italy, within an important tourist district. Interventions are necessary, but with respect for these aspects.
“We will monitor,” Faustini assured, “that within the limits of possibility, even radical interventions are respectful of a peaceful and unique landscape. Regarding tourism, I have two things to add. First,” says the president of the mountain community, “is a request to Anas to suspend the small construction sites open these days, which cause heavy discomfort in the summer. The second is a thank you to hoteliers and tourism operators, who are managing to save the season despite all these difficulties.”
