Garda Roads Safety: Funding, Upgrades, and Ongoing Works
Meetings and Issues of the Garda Roads
Gathering of administrators, politicians, and technicians at the bedside of the Gardesana. The event is promoted by the Comune di Limone and the purpose is quite clear: to finally find the 300 billion euros needed to provide a definitive solution to the safety issues along the section of Statale 45 bis that runs between Limone and Gargnano.
The meeting is scheduled for Saturday afternoon. Attending will be the mayors of Alto Garda, regional and provincial administrators, the leaders of Anas, and some parliamentarians, including a sub-secretary of Public Works.
“With the completion of the tunnel built between Limone and Riva,” explains Limone’s mayor, Martinelli, “the problem has been resolved regarding the Trentino section of 45 bis. But the issue remains drastically open along the stretch that runs along Lake Garda’s Brescia side.”
This is the reason for Saturday’s summit: to find the necessary funds to definitively upgrade Gardesana. The problem is primarily financial. However, it is not an easy solution given the substantial amount needed: at least 300 billion euros.
Therefore, it is unthinkable to raise these funds locally. The intervention of the Government is needed. Just as in 1922, when the Brescia Provincial Administration obtained from the Government, thanks in part to D’Annunzio’s involvement, a subsidy covering 60% of the cost to build the Gardesana segment connecting Gargnano to Riva.
The road was inaugurated on October 28, 1931, exactly 80 years ago. Today, the 45 bis shows all its shortcomings, revealing unsustainable inadequacies both in terms of usability and safety.
Between Gargnano and Riva, over 20,000 vehicles pass daily in the summer period—a traffic volume that the road, designed based on traffic data from the Thirties and Forties, can no longer support.
The safety issue is instead linked to the hydrogeological instability of the mountain slopes towering over the road, historically known and clearly evident from the landslides of recent years.
After the improvements made in the 1960s, when many tunnels were widened, another, more radical adjustment of the route is now imperative, especially because 45 bis is the main axis of the flourishing tourist economy of the entire Brescia Garda.
Economic operators and local administrators have been highlighting this for some time. The obstacle remains the acquisition of the 300 billion euros needed to fund already planned works, including a new natural tunnel at Forbisicle, between the Tignale junction and Campione, one of the most delicate segments of Gardesana.
Current status of the works and transport
It will be discussed on Saturday, but in the meantime, users of Gardesana continue to experience the inconvenience of a road that feels like a construction site. Recall that in recent days, traffic at Forbisicle is intermittent due to safety works on the mountain slope.
In the intervention area, at kilometer 93, only fifteen minutes every hour are available for transit. The closure times are as follows: from 7:15 AM to 8:00 AM; 8:15 AM to 9:00 AM; 9:15 AM to 10:00 AM; 10:15 AM to 11:00 AM; 11:15 AM to 12:30 PM; 2:00 PM to 3:00 PM; 3:15 PM to 4:00 PM; 4:15 PM to 5:00 PM; and 5:15 PM to 6:00 PM.
During evening and night hours, traffic can flow normally, as well as on Saturday afternoons and holidays. The worksite was opened on October 8, and there is hope to close it by November 15, especially because from that date a total transit blockade between Riva and Limone is planned until December 15.
The completion works for the tunnel inaugurated last July are to be carried out.