Riva Ring Road Final Project Approved to Divert Traffic Outside the City
The final project – the precursor to the executive plan – of the Riva Ring Road has been presented by technicians and administrators yesterday morning in the province. It concerns the alternative to the Gardesana Occidentale designed to divert through-traffic outside the city.
It spans three kilometers, from the parking lot of the ring road to the junction with the Grazie provincial road, passing through San Giacomo-Pasina-Sant’Andrea. The cost is estimated at around sixty billion lira, with potential to begin construction in 2001 if no major issues arise with expropriations.
From the moment the contract is awarded (following a tender that, given the scope, must be on a European scale), the winner will have 25 months to complete the road. Demonstrating a preference for a swift solution is a clause offering a prize of 10 million lira for each day of early completion.
Apart from the incentive, a credible deadline for a project that Busa (and not only Riva) has been waiting for at least twenty years begins to take shape.
Technical features and traffic flow
The project proposes a two-lane road, 10.50 meters wide, measuring 3 kilometers in length. Two tunnels are planned: the first beneath Lavino and Maddalena, 640 meters long, from via Monte Oro (the current parking lot also used by buses, which will be eliminated) to the top of via Ardaro. The second is an artificial tunnel, 137 meters long at the intersection with the Anime junction, designed to bypass via Ardaro entirely, meaning the new route will never cross through it.
Then begins a series of roundabouts—seven in total, including the one with the current Riva-Arco state road. They are designed to offer motorists heading towards Arco or Trento a wide range of possible exits, allowing each driver to choose the most convenient and closest route to diversify journeys and avoid the current forced entry into the city center avenues.
Beyond a bridge over the Albola stream, the first roundabout connects to the Comai slip road; the second, nearby, will serve the new fairs and congress center, for which new access roads are planned; the third roundabout is at the intersection with the Varone and Tenno state roads, approximately midway between the Pasina junction and via Fornasetta.
This is followed by an underpass under the Varone stream, a flyover over via Venezia, and a roundabout at the intersection with the Grazie provincial road, just south of Cementi Riva.
Beyond that, a «requalification of the existing traffic network» is planned: this involves widening the current road so that local traffic (agricultural and service vehicles for plants) cannot use the main route but must instead utilize internal farm roads to reach the roundabouts.
Three such requalification points are planned: one at the Grazie junction, a second midway along via Sant’Andrea (requested by the Comune di Arco) to serve the new industrial zone outlined in the local urban plan, and a third at the intersection with the current Riva-Arco state road.
Procedures and timelines
The project, prepared by Studio Gentilini, will be presented next Wednesday during the service conference. This means that the responsible bodies for mobility, urban planning, environmental protection, mountain basins, fire prevention, geological services, the provincial technical committee, Riva municipality, and Arco municipality will each review the project and have sixty days to give their opinions or reservations.
By mid-November, the detailed executive project can begin to be drafted, alongside the expropriation phase. If there are no major objections from property owners, the process will quickly proceed to an European tender.
As mentioned before, another 25 months should then see the project completed, putting the nightmare behind us.
