New 341, this is the extension of the Pedemontana

Committees are on a war footing in Cassano Magnago, there is great attention in Gallarate, and a fiery political battle in Samarate. The change to Trunk Road 341, the “Gallaratese” (from the Pedemontana motorway down until Vanzaghello, directions Milan and Novara) has been a hot topic for some weeks.

For a long time, the project had been just a “technical” topic for discussion, but today (possibly because of the first work on the Pedemontana motorway which is taking shape in Cassano Magnago), it has become more concrete.

Trunk Road 341, which is designed to serve Malpensa and the south of Gallarate Province, actually consists of two very different parts: a dual carriageway (like the Malpensa highway) to the north, between Cassano Magnago and Gallarate, in the area between Madonna in Campagna, Arnate and Busto Arsizio; and, further south, the new trunk road, a single carriageway with few intersections with other local roads, crossed with tunnels, cuttings and bridges. However, this stretch will also be built with “the technical characteristics and land affected by the expropriations made to accommodate the future, four-lane road.” It will also be possible to adapt the flyovers and underpasses in the future, like the section that was completed a few years ago, which can already be seen today, in Vanzaghello (see photo, right).

From the Pedemontana junction, the areas of Cassano Magnago, where there is a high risk of flooding (a cause for concern in Cassano and in Gallarate), are crossed by an embankment. The fact that the so-called “water dispersion” zone is destined also to occupy the Pedemontana junction, a waste centre, the junction for the intermodal yard and the Sciarè district of Gallarate (entrance from Viale Unione Europea) is, by no means, of secondary importance. After this stretch, there will be the imposing concrete viaduct (560m, see photo, left), which will cross the Hupac yard, the Milan-Gallarate railway and Highway 336; the main span of the viaduct will be 100m long. A little further on, there will be the junction connecting to Highway 336, the starting point for the new trunk road 341; this will be in the area between Madonna in Campagna, Verghera and Arnate (Via delle Querce, in Gallarate, will cross this road, over a bridge). The new road system will take up a part of the wood that is left, which some in Gallarate would like to transform into an “equipped urban park”, at least according to what was announced during the election campaign by the Mayor, Edoardo Guenzani.

The subsequent stretch, on the edge of Verghera, includes a tunnel section, which will pass under Via per Cascina Tangitt and Busto Arsizio. The road will enter a cutting near Samarate, intersecting with Via Ercole Ferrario. The centre of the wood in Samarate will be crossed in a cutting and tunnel (480m), with a new access road that will connect the junction to the centre of the town. From here, it will be possible to get to the area of San Macario and Cascina Elisa, which will be crossed by a raised section with a new, large roundabout in Corso Europa (which will remain parallel, as you can see in the photo, left).

In the end, the centre-right council agreed to keep the Cascina Elisa stretch on the surface, while the centre-left oppositions had called for an underground section, which would have been more expensive, but would have reduced the visual and acoustic impact. “We fought, but we weren’t able to get the tunnel,” said the Mayor Leonardo Tarantino, who did, however get assurances over completion of the building work; this was to prevent the road being left unfinished, like the new sunken road from Vanzaghello, which, today, is still just an isolated stretch.