Rome, Corso Vittorio divided by the tram. Wrath of the residents. Shopkeepers: “We risk closing”
The Municipality puts it on the field wisdom to dispel the doubts of traders and residents about the layout of the Termini-Vatican-Aurelio. Massimo Bertoni, president of Federmoda and owner of a shop in via Nazionale, admits that he is «concerned about the passage of the tramway: as I told the Municipality, already with the construction site for the paving of the street commissioned by Raggi, 45 shops have closed, but if these jobs are finished quickly, we risk another 50 being missed».
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Viviana Di Capua, historical president of the association Inhabitants of the historic center, has her eye on Corso Vittorio Emanuele, which will be divided in two by the future infrastructure: «The Councilor for Transport, Eugenio Patanè, knows that we are perplexed» and hopes « in the intervention of the Superintendence, because the route of the trams touches delicate points of the Capital: in corso Vittorio Emanuele there are many prestigious buildings, such as Palazzo Massimo, and beautiful churches such as Sant’Andrea della Valle. Their stability, and that of the buildings where we live, must be safeguarded. Without forgetting the resistance of the flooring, which is no less delicate». Merchants and residents do not hide their doubts for the construction of the TV, the so-called Jubilee tramway, the one from Termini and at the end of 2024 it will arrive in Piazza Argentina, to then continue in the following years for the Vatican and the Aurelio. A work that has already recorded quite a few delays on the roadmap and which at the end of the month should see the publication of the call for tenders (value 153 million) for the construction of the first section. It will be necessary to wait until October 2023 to start the works.
Precisely to alleviate the inconvenience for citizens, the Municipality – on the input of councilor Patanè and with a loan of 75 thousand euros – has mandated Sapienza University to carry out a study to obtain alternative design solutions on the urban, environmental and safety fronts road. “We want to guarantee – adds the owner of Transport – the participation of the Municipalities, of the committees and of the associations of residents and traders, so that the new road structure enhances the commercial establishments, the many historical and cultural activities and architecturally redefines the area in order to protect pedestrian traffic, improving the quality of the public space and the road safety conditions which today appear critical».
PAVEMENTS
To meet residents and merchants, the project developers – both during the construction phase and when the infrastructure will be in operation – decided that the tracks, like the trains, had to be equipped with all the necessary filters to reduce vibrations and noise of the rattling, that the tarpaulins to cover the construction sites will not be the ugly “henhouse nets” but LED panels or there will be no overhead electricity grid in front of important monuments such as Palazzo Massimo. Not to mention that the Municipality has already decided to inhibit the passage on rubber buses on that stretch of the historic center. Sapienza technicians will be asked to design, for example, wider sidewalks where possible, lane widenings where needed or so-called soft mobility paths (such as cycle paths) around this area. But that might not be enough. Yes, because residents and merchants, in theory not opposed to a new transport infrastructure, fear that the passage of the mammoth trams will reduce safety, make those streets less attractive (even from a commercial point of view) and endanger the stability of buildings and monuments.
THE REACTIONS
The actor Luca Barbareschi, who is trying to reopen the Eliseo theater in via Nazionale, is pessimistic: «This seems to me to be another ingenious idea, like that of former mayor Raggi who, by preventing buses from arriving in the centre, actually stole a large chunk of the audience to theaters in the area. In the center of Rome there are wild boars, there are abandoned businesses. Via Nazionale collects the passage of thousands of people a day from the Termini station to the center and is in a state of abandonment. Mayor Gualtieri should make existing services work instead of thinking about pharaonic and useless projects ». In different tones, Marco Lepre does not want a repetition of «what has been happening with the restoration of the archaeological area of Largo Argentina: a “living construction site” for at least 20 years, which has also ended up increasing delinquency. The real study that the Municipality should do is on the timing of the works, to give a certain beginning and end ».
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