Boats inaugurate the Panperduto lock

The first test, “in the field”, of the Panperduto lock has been carried out. At noon, on Saturday, 2 May, canoes and boats involved in the event “Via con marmo” passed for the first time through the system, where the Ticino River and the Villoresi Canal come together, the meeting point of the future waterways of Milan. Now, there are just two points at which intervene in order to make sailing to Milan possible: upstream, the basin of the Porto Della Torre lock, and downstream, the Turbigo lock.

“Today, we tried out what we mean by ‘multifunctionality’, in the field. The Panperduto locks are a project that looks to the future, they’re an extraordinary example of recovery work that combines infrastructure, the environment and tourism,” Alessandro Folli, the President of Consorzio ET Villoresi, explained. The locks represent two of the 36 interventions that make up the Navigli Integrated Project, thanks to which projects costing almost €40 million (of which nearly €30 million came from the European Regional Development Fund) have been carried out.

Does it all work? Unfortunately, the section that has been reopened, thanks to the Panperduto lock still does not connect the “upper” navigable section (which goes between Lake Maggiore and the Ticino Canal Grande, between Sesto, Golasecca and Somma) to the “lower” section, on which there is boat service for tourists that starts out from the Milan Dock, going to Boffalora. The Villoresi section way will soon be accessible to canoes and other small boats, following a request to the consortium. “It will still take a couple of months, we will have to prepare some regulations for management of the dam,” Folli explained. The Consorzio ET Villoresi is going to keep a tourist boat at the Panperduto Dam, and it is hoped that when the hostel opens, there will be some tourist activity. Following the initial phase (six events of interest) for management of the area, there is now the real call for bids, “which will end in a fortnight”. At that point, the manager might also start the boat service. For the time being, there is only room for the initiatives that were agreed in good time, such as the “Via col Marmo”, which has been organised by the sports association “Longalago”.

The Navigli Integrated Project was sanctioned by the schedule agreement signed on 18 October 2012 by the Consorzio di Bonifica Est Ticino Villoresi (the leading company), Lombardy Region, Navigli Lombardi Scarl, the North Adda Park, the South Milan Agricultural Park, the Groane Park and the Lombardo della Valle Ticino Park. In particular, more than €1 million was allocated for the recovery of the navigation locks that were inaugurated today, which are necessary for the reopening of the old Locarno – Milan – Venice waterway.