Gardesana Orientale Truck Ban Aims to Improve Lake Safety and Traffic
No trucks, for seven months, on the Gardesana Orientale. The ban on vehicles used for the transportation of goods and freight with an authorized total mass exceeding seven and a half tons will take effect on Saturday, remaining valid 24 hours a day until October 31. The decree establishing the closure of the road to heavy vehicles along the section from Peschiera to Torbole in the province of Trento has been signed both by the Goverment Commissioner Alberto De Muro for the Autonomous Province of Trento and by the Prefect of Verona Francesco Giovannucci. The decision followed consultations with the Ministry of Public Works, Anas Venice, the Verona Provincial Administration, the Autonomous Province of Trento, and the affected mayors. The request for this ban has been made, as has happened for several years now, by the Garda Community under pressure from tourism operators and the local mayors concerned about the safety limits of a road built in the late 1930s that has remained largely unchanged. There are indeed pinch points near populated areas that heighten the risk level, with traffic remaining consistently high and peaking sharply during the tourist season.
Traffic situation and improvement projects
This year, traffic will be even heavier due to the closure of the Gardesana Occidentale following the landslide that occurred last January, along with ongoing construction of the new tunnel connecting Riva del Garda to Limone, which is unlikely to be completed before next July. “It is a traffic situation that has raised concerns for years,” recalls Antonio Pasotti, head of tourism at the Garda Community. “It causes ecological damage that negatively impacts the entire lake basin’s tourism economy. For this reason, even the new board of the Garda Authority has offered its willingness to undertake any appropriate political initiatives to speed up the realization of the desired connecting road between Riva and the motorway exit of Autobrennero in Mori.”
“This,” Pasotti emphasizes again, “aims to reach the goal as soon as possible of totally closing the Gardesana Orientale to heavy traffic throughout the year, not just during the tourist months.” However, this stretch of road continues to be a seemingly endless saga, with projects repeatedly rejected and subjected to a series of appeals and counter-appeals between environmentalists and the Autonomous Province of Trento, which has had to appeal to the Council of State. It is clear that even this year, the measure, with a red light for heavy traffic along the lakeside route, only partially satisfies the requests of local authorities and residents of the Veronese Garda municipalities, who have been engaged in a civil fight for years to reach a complete ban on heavy traffic.
It remains to be specified that the ban from April 7 to October 31 does not apply to vehicles involved in the loading and unloading of goods and materials for documented needs related to activities and the needs of the lakeside communities. Also excluded from the restrictions are vehicles providing public utility services locally, those from local administrations for waste collection and disposal, as well as vehicles used for urgent and emergency services or belonging to the Post and Telecommunications Ministry. Transit is also permitted for RaiTv service vehicles for proven reasons, and for trucks used to transport fuels and lubricants destined for local distribution and consumption.