Gardone Riviera Approves €1.1B for Urban, Infrastructure, and Environmental Projects
The latest City Council of Gardone Riviera approved numerous preliminary projects; with a total expenditure of 1 billion and 100 million euros.
Lighting and Urban Furniture Improvements
The first involves the arrangement of public lighting and urban furniture along the lakeside promenade. “We need to replace lamps and projectors, and polish the lanterns to reduce the visual effect. From a distance, in the evening, you can clearly see Portese and San Vigilie, but there’s a shadow cone towards the island” – explains Mayor Alessandro Bazzani, an engineer. “And we want to illuminate the palms, cypress trees, the leather oak, and the two pines in the Marconi and Wimmer squares; replace the mooring posts in the small port; purchase a gazebo and heavy cast-iron flowerpots, so that no one can lift and throw them into the water.” The cost: 142 million euros.
Alfredo Mantica, from AN, suggested placing climbing roses on the posts. The ornamental commission will evaluate the project before final drafting. Next, the creation of a wooden walkway for one mooring point for boats. It will be 70 meters long and 1.20 meters wide in front of the Savoy. Cost: 144 million euros. Already purchased are about a dozen buoys.
In case of a storm, boats tend to drift away, making it necessary to find a solution. The sidewalk along via Vittoriale, from the Casinò to D’Annunzio’s house.
Sidewalk and Green Area Renovation
Bazzani: “We’ll place curbs on both sides, made of Verona red marble, with a granite asphalt pavement. Linear length: 1,100 meters. An intervention costing 200 million euros.” Mantica raised the issue of the Garden beside the 45 is. “It has become a jungle” – said the senator –. “Perhaps it’s worth asking a nursery to sponsor extraordinary maintenance.” The mayor also recalled current water problems: the small lake upstream is dry.
Next, the renovation of via Rimbalzello, specifically the stretch from 45 bis to the lakeside, located in Salò but bordering Gardone.
The mayor: “Based on the agreement made in recent days, we’ll handle it. With 255 million euros, we’ll install porphyry cobblestones and cast-iron grilles, remove the oleander bushes, and illuminate the uphill section, recovering seven or eight wrought-iron lamps.” Clotilde Mirone Zuccaia criticized “the horrendous outdoor wiring setup in front of the Savoy. It shows a lack of attention to detail.”
Interventions on the Landslide and Public Works
We continue with the hydraulic-forestry stabilization of the landslide in Seriola, on the Strada dei Mulini (Mill Road). The funding, requested in 1997, has now arrived: 95 million euros to be spent.
The only intervention not approved unanimously was the public parking lot Uliveto, in Fasano Sopra. Also worth 255 million euros.
Bazzani: “We aim to restore the restriction on the area, which had lapsed. It is a beautiful zone to be protected. So, instead of the original plan for 65 parking spaces, we will create just 30, using two nets. Some olive trees will need to be moved. In Fasano, residential settlements have grown significantly over the past years, and now we need to reclaim space.”
Laura Volpato: “On Saturdays and Sundays, we at the La Sorgente cooperative don’t know where to park cars.” The opposition group affiliated with the Polo abstained. Mantica expressed doubts. “In that area, builders have bulldozed the mountain to build condominiums, destroying the territory in an incredible way” – stated the senator. “And now, with the parking lot, we’re giving them an additional benefit, increasing the value of their properties. I don’t see this as a priority project. It seems more driven by private interests than public ones. Unless a system is found to grant parking permits to residents of the neighborhood.” Mirone also proposed holding a referendum.”