The station-to-lake cycle path takes shape

Without too much fuss, a cycle and pedestrian path is taking shape between Casbeno and Capolago, and will soon become a weekend destination of Varese inhabitants.

Everyone has something good, or bad, to say about the “cycle path in Via XXV Aprile”. But, as we pointed out at the time, it is only a small urban section of a cycle and pedestrian path that connects the centre of town, and its stations, to the much-loved lakeside cycle path, which for years has been a favourite destination of Varese inhabitants.

The Station-to-Lake cycle path begins in Casbeno.

Work in Via XXV Aprile: where there were blue stalls, the first part of the cycle path, which will connect the stations to the lake, is being built.

And so, while the controversies in the centre of town are raging, few know that the work on the rest of the cycle path has, in the meantime, proceeded very quickly; most of the path, from Casbeno to Capolago, has been completed, as the photos taken in the last few days show.

“Yes, it’s true,” the Councillor for Town Planning, Andrea Civati, said. “And, although it’s not finished, it’s already accessible, because it was built on roads that already existed. Except for a few short sections, the cycle and pedestrian path has simply readapted the roads between the fields.”

At one point, however, there are still some important parts to be put right. “It’s the final section, towards Capolago,” Civati explained. “There, the asphalt surface is missing; it’s going to be laid, with eco-friendly asphalt and with a colour that blends with the rural landscape.” For the rest, only a few safety or secondary details are missing, such as “wooden fencing or guardrails, and the vertical signposts.”

However, the signposts that indicate that the path is part of the Francisca Path are already in place. “That was one of the first things we did: it was to highlight immediately the fact that those lanes were part of the path.”

AN ATTRACTIVE PATH, ALSO FOR PEDESTRIANS

The part of the cycle and pedestrian path produced is what has been considered the most touristic since its planning. And it is, despite the difference in altitude between the town centre and the lake. “The path runs along the gentlest part of the slope, along the natural slope of the hill; just to put it into perspective, it’s nothing like Via Daverio. Of course, there are some parts that are a bit steeper, but there are very few, and they’re all concentrated in the part immediately below Casbeno.”

At least, “The view you get from that section is incredible, and unexpected,” Civati pointed out. “Besides, as it was already the cycle path of the lake, it’s also suitable as a pedestrian path: an alternative way of getting to know the territory of our town.”

It will only take another month or so, before you can enjoy it in full safety; according to signs put up along the path, the end of the work is expected for 28 February, but the council assures us that it will all be finished before that data.

Station-to-Lake cycle path: where it will go and how

The Councillor for Public Works, in Varese, Andrea Civati, explained how the urban and tourist cycle path will be; it will go through the town, and work on it has just begun.

BICYCLE PARKING STATIONS: THE MOST IMPORTANT CHANGES FOR CYCLISTS WILL SOON BE HERE

For cyclists, the most important changes will start in the next few weeks.

“The next work to be carried out is the building of two bicycle parking stations, in Casbeno and at the North Station,” the councillor concluded. “They’ll be modern parking stations, the kind that has serious boxes, not just simple stands, for the bikes. The work is about to start. The third bicycle parking station, which will also be the biggest, at the State railway station, will come later on.”