Traffic Hazards and Safety Concerns at Riva’s Busiest Streets

The engines roar. The drivers, tense, watch the opponent’s car beside them and are ready to launch. When the traffic light turns green, the cars accelerate and the race finally begins. The story of a start at the Monza Grand Prix? Not at all: the start described above, unfortunately, is just one of many that can be seen throughout the day at the traffic light on viale Damiano Chiesa.

Local traffic situation and issues

Then, obviously, the challenges — which are even more frequent during the night hours — continue along viale Riccamboni, only to cease in the final part of this street. Here, tensions settle, accountants and workers switch from Schumacher and Hakkinen personas and merge onto viale Trento, some heading toward the center of Riva, others toward Arco.

This attitude, quite certainly not civil, becomes even more serious when considering the traffic conditions of the area. Viale Damiano Chiesa, in fact, is one of the busiest and most congested streets in Riva: it hosts the municipal library, the eponymous middle school, the «Impera» gym, numerous shops and bus stops, not to mention that nearby there are also the liceo, the elementary schools «Nino Pernici», and the Carabinieri barracks.

Overall, it’s a high-risk zone, especially for pedestrians in general, but particularly for the hundreds of children who cross it every day during the school year. To draw attention to this problem, the residents of the entire area, now exasperated, have sent a letter to the mayor, supporting their arguments with alarming data. The letter details chilling incidents related to the traffic situation.

Incidents and safety concerns

“On the night of July 16 — they write — two cars competing against each other collided, and one was flung onto the sidewalk and garden at the intersection of viale Riccamboni and viale Baruffaldi, causing severe damage to both the car and the surrounding fence. A week ago, a Porsche sheared off a streetlamp post at viale Riccamboni.

People have also paid the consequences of reckless driving and high speed: last year, a pedestrian (the optician Piergiorgio Armani, who was hit on the pedestrian crossings and survived miraculously — note) was hit while crossing the Baruffaldi-Riccamboni intersection, and a few years earlier, a German motorcyclist crashed at the end of viale Riccamboni, dying instantly.”

In response to this situation, despite the presence of a police officer during peak hours, the over fifty signers of the letter request speed reducers, traffic islands, strict controls, median strips, and protective barriers for pedestrians to safeguard the safety of residents and drivers alike.