Riva-Limone Tunnel Construction to Impact Traffic and Safety Measures
Four months of work, four months of emergency. On March 5th, the companies Collini and Oberosler will start construction of the 1200-meter tunnel that will connect Riva to Limone, and at the same time, a long series of problems arising from these operations will need to be addressed both in terms of traffic and safety. To analyze the situation and plan the interventions, yesterday morning, in the Municipality, a very crowded summit was held.
Discussing construction site issues
The public works assessor Sergio Casagranda, provincial technicians, the mayors of Riva and Limone, and the law enforcement officials considered all aspects related to the activity of a huge construction site at the gates of Riva. This site, where for 120 days, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 70 workers will operate, from which 50 trucks loaded with rock will depart daily, and explosives will also be used.
The first issue was identifying the location where to deposit the 30,000 cubic meters of material (the total expected is 90,000 m²) that will be excavated from the Rivana side of the tunnel. Two hypotheses: one proposed by the Rivana administration, which would use the debris for widening the lakeside promenade between Piazza Catena and Casa Rossa, and another that plans to transport the debris to the Ceole area.
Decisions on debris management and traffic
Regarding the first hypothesis, Assessore Casagranda will present this very morning to the provincial council, and by the afternoon, a decision will be made about its feasibility. It goes without saying that widening the lakeside promenade would avoid trucks passing through the center of Riva, both day and night. This situation, already hardly pleasant now, will be unmanageable when, in a few weeks, the first tourists start arriving.
Tourists will be forced to use the ferry for cars and buses, and right in front of the dock, they will have to deal with the intense traffic of trucks. The situation, in short, could become explosively problematic.
Use of explosives and safety
Regarding explosives, the handling during construction has advised banning navigation within 150 meters of the Rocchetta walls. Marked with buoys, only Navigarda’s vessels will be allowed access within the zone, specifically in the meters adjacent to the floating markers.
All indications suggest that the Coast Guard patrol boats and police boats will have a busy time intercepting surfers, who are never too compliant with the rules. From now on, a tourist information campaign will be launched through accommodation companies, individual businesses, and every available channel (traffic signs will be placed at highway exits) to warn visitors about the difficult situation in Alta Gardesana and the best solutions.
Only at Easter will we know if all this was worthwhile.