City Council Debate on Gardesana Pedestrian Underpass Project
Nighttime discussion in the City Council
Late into the night, the City Council heats up. The final public session is energized by a discussion, shortly after midnight, of a series of inquiries submitted by the minority group. These topics are dated, but only now brought to the council chamber.
In particular, the issue dominating the debate — a true ongoing saga — is the construction of the pedestrian underpass on the Gardesana road, a thoroughfare that divides the upper lake settlement in two. The project was completed with significant delays amid protests from trade associations affected by the difficult circumstances created.
“There’s no doubt that the work should have started earlier and that there were disruptions,” admitted frankly the mayor Giuseppe Lombardi. “At the same time, however, we must not forget the unfortunate setbacks that slowed down the construction of the underpass — issues not attributable to the administration.”
“I would like to remind everyone that in Trentino, near Lake Loppio, the construction time for a similar underpass was much longer. Still, we could not have halted work during Easter because a forced suspension would have caused serious damage to Edilbaldo, the company officially handing over the project on June 20.”
The administration would have been in the wrong in regards to this matter, yet now we are ready to seek damages from Edilbaldo: 500,000 lire for each day of delay in delivering the work.
It is natural, of course, that constructing certain infrastructures always entails some inconvenience.” “Does someone perhaps forget,” Lombardi argued, “what happened with the construction of the Campogrande parking lot? Near my brother’s hotel, workers were already starting at six in the morning with jackhammers. The work continued until late at night, much to the delight of the hotel guests.
Benefits of the underpass and adjacent works
Before closing the… never-ending story, assessor Ferdinando Sbizzera recalled that thanks to the construction of the underpass and the subsequent removal of the traffic light system, all road users have benefited with increased efficiency.
“In practice, for each hour, twenty minutes are recovered: the amount of time lost to the forced stop at the traffic light. This is significant, considering the traffic volume on the Gardesana in summer.”