Reopening Ponale Road: Environmental, Heritage and Traffic Perspectives

With the arrival of autumn, there is a resurgence of initiatives regarding the old Ponale, officially closed since the distant day when it came under the jurisdiction of the province. The Giacomo Cis Committee, which collected ten thousand signatures from citizens and visitors appended to a petition advocating for the reopening of the road for pedestrian and bicycle transit, is once again appealing to Councillor Berasi.

Why did she, prior to others who had committed themselves (Casagranda, Grisenti, Benedetti, and Molinari), take action last spring? Only because the environment minister had given the impression of supporting the reopening not out of official duty but from personal conviction. It’s not that the others lacked enthusiasm, but she seemed to have made it her personal banner.

Request for verification and agreements

And so, here is the very simple request. Would it be possible, for now, to review the Castelli report? The one that the engineer submitted to the province a few months ago and was immediately classified as confidential, except for a few well-informed individuals who are slowly releasing announcements of catastrophic prospects. This would help clear the field of serious and unpleasant speculations.

Moreover, the agreement to meet at the end of August (August 2000, it’s unnecessary to specify) signed by Benedetti, Berasi, Casagranda, Grisenti, and Molinari—each with a wealth of expertise spanning tourism, heritage, environment, historical testimonies, and traffic—concerned a discussion about the methods of recovery.

Restoration and protection of the road

The obligation to maintain, even if only partially, the slopes of the mountain to ensure transit on the Western route is beyond question since the province rejected the Lombard proposal of a single tunnel from Riva to Gargano as too costly and environmentally unfeasible. Therefore, while periodic inspections of unstable rocks will always be necessary, the recovery of Ponale is almost automatic.

Neither the administration nor the signatories of the 10,000 signatures intend to back down by even a millimeter: among them are Cesare Malossini and Pietro Matteotti. Neither of them is willing to settle for the promises that have so far been wasted.