Inspection of construction sites. Cattaneo: everything is OK.

The Pedemontana is perfectly on schedule, according to the regional councillor for infrastructure, Raffaele Cattaneo, who, with technicians and the press, inspected the construction sites in Cassano Magnago and Solbiate Olona this morning. “At the moment, there is no reason to worry,” the councillor explained. “The work is coming along rapidly, as is other work for the 2015 Expo.” But the unforeseen is always just around the corner, and Cattaneo is aware of this. “In the future, there may be some unforeseen events, as there are in all jobs of this size (see the arsenic in the rocks of Arcisate-Stabio, ed.) but so far, nothing like that has happened.”

Today, the construction site of the Turate-Cassano stretch of road provides work for 800 people, a number that is going to increase to 1500. The road will be 14 km and 400m long, of which over 38% will be in cuttings, and 24% in natural and artificial tunnels.

As mentioned, the inspection was made of the initial junction, that of Cassano Magnago, which will be the main junction of the A section between Turate and Lozza. “From here, it will be possible to continue east to Bergamo, or west, across the 336 trunk road, towards Malpensa, and towards the A4 motorway, as well as to the north-south road between Varese and Milan.” The junction is proceeding well, two and a half years after construction began, the overpass will be placed by the end of January, in just two nights of work. The double tunnel from Solbiate Olona to the Valle Olona, towards Gorla Maggiore will take a little more that a year to complete. The artificial tunnel that runs under Fagnano Olona was given a rapid look over, before the floor was given over to journalists’ questions.

At the end of the inspection, the meeting of the Supervisory Board for the Pedemontana was held in Villa Oliva, the elegant, eighteenth century building that houses Cassano Magnago’s council offices. In addition to an update of the state of progress of the work and of the activities on section A, and of the first allotments of the Como and Varese bypasses, on the agenda, there was also the junction in Lomazzo and the suggestion of an alternative route for the second allotment of the Como bypass. The board unanimously approved the alteration of the junction, which, instead of an underpass, will be an overpass, in accordance with what was decided by the Interdepartmental Committee for Economic Planning, and they agreed on the fact that it should be included in section A, as already approved by the Pedemontana Board of Directors.

Finally, the Supervisory Board discussed the second allotment of the Como bypass, of which two alternative routes were illustrated to local representatives. Those present chose the “local” option, which was considered the best because of its lesser environmental impact and because it will allow cutting costs, from €860 to €640 million, with a saving of over €200 million.