Resuming Riva-Arco Bike Lane: Calls for Reviving Old Infrastructure
There are countless discussions about ecology, but in reality, someone who wants to use a bike to go from Riva to Arco and leave the car at home finds himself overwhelmed by a sea of problems so large that they discourage him. This is what Paolo Barbagli states on behalf of the Amici della Terra, concluding with a very simple request: to restore the old, albeit improper, bike lane.
When dedicated bike lanes were still a distant prospect, municipal administrations carved out a three-meter-wide path next to the state highway from Arco to Riva. “More than sufficient for the safe crossing of two bicycles and to avoid almost physical contact with cars and trucks.” Naturally, if something works, opposition grows, which Barbagli calls “murderous.” Today, the unfortunate cyclist is “forced to pedal through a knotted tunnel whose width fluctuates between 50 centimeters and 2 meters, disappearing in some spots only to reappear as a karst phenomenon.”
The entire route is filled with sudden obstacles such as garbage bins, light poles, flower or plant pots, Enel transformers, with a roadway surface reminiscent of Indian-Tibetan levels — asphalt from the sixties never resurfaced, deadly potholes, dirt sections, cobblestone and concrete stretches, and on the right side, weeds, guardrails, slime-filled ditches, and walls of various heights: a true warpath decorated here and there, as if mockingly, with a beautiful yellow sign with a bicycle, perhaps to remind those who have forgotten, of its supposed purpose.
The Riva municipality has commissioned Engineer Flavio Pedrazzoli to design the stretch of bike lane under their jurisdiction, up to San Tomaso. On the Arco side, the Amici della Terra have spoken with Councilor Miori and Engineer Trentini, the author of the light mobility plan: grateful for their availability, they do not agree at all with the proposed solutions.
Proposed solutions for cycling mobility
The “peripheral” bike lanes for Varignano-Grazie or for San Giorgio, ideal for leisurely rides, are unsuitable for daily commuters moving between the two cities and serve no real purpose. The only genuine solution remains the bike lane along the state highway, just like in the past.