Car parks and public transport, accessibility to Sacro Monte gets better

Sacro Monte is going to be more accessible for residents and pilgrims. This is the aim of the agreement signed today, with which the new project for the realisation of interventions and works to improve the accessibility to a place that is so important for Varese town, begins.

The agreement has been reached with Varese City Council, the Department for Infrastructure and Mobility of Lombardy Region, Varese Province, the “Campo dei Fiori” Park, and all institutional bodies interested in the intervention, which begins a work programme with a precise time schedule. (The interventions by the regional councillor, Raffaele Cattaneo, and the Mayor of Varese, Attilio Fontana)

The work will be carried out in two phases: the first will involve the design and construction of the underground “Prima Cappella” Car Park, with about 120 places; the second will involve the design and implementation of a “broader provision for private accessibility”, which will be identified following a strategic environmental assessment.

From April, important changes may be introduced to the car parks in the access square of the village. The regulations of the existing car parks will change, making 30 extra spaces available to everyone, and the parking times will be altered, going from a maximum of two hours to a maximum of three hours.

But the agreement also aims to develop public transport; in phase 1, the intention is to rationalise the existing services, particularly during weekdays, to enhance the services during weekends and holidays and/or on days when there is a greater flow of people, and set up a service linking the stations, the stadium and Sacro Monte; in phase 2, “possible scenarios for extending public mobility will be examined, which may entail a more radical reorganisation of the existing system, also with the starting up of innovative services.”

According to the programme of the agreement, the interventions will have a precise time schedule; for the construction of the “Prima Cappella” Car Park, Varese City Council is immediately going to implement the procedures for allocating the work for the preliminary and final designs, with a forecast that work will being within a year.

The signatories have undertaken also to coordinate the procedures of their respective jurisdictions, and to respect the following time schedule:

– by 31 March 2012, reorganisation of the existing car parks, already underway;

– by the end of May 2012, completion of the preliminary project for the “Prima Cappella” Car Park;

– by the end of September 2012, completion of the final project;

– by December 2012, completion of the executive project and the start of building work.

The cost of the work is estimated at €2.4 million, in total, 49% of which will be funded by Lombardy Region, 10%, by Varese Province, 40% by Varese City Council, and the remaining 1% will come from the “Campo dei Fiori” regional park.