The new Gagno-Terre Rosse link road, which will connect the entrance to Piombino with the new port area and the new industrial zones, was inaugurated this morning.
While awaiting the completion of the 1st part of the work to extend the SS 398 fast road to the port, the new route will serve as a first step in alleviating traffic to the city. Up until now the only way to get to the new northern area of the port had been through the city.
The infrastructure project, worth €10.1 million, was contracted out by the Port Network Authority as the implementing party chosen by Special Commissioner Eugenio Giani, President of Tuscany Regional Administration. The contract was awarded to the Sales company in November 2019. The work began in 2021 after the company submitted some improvement variants for the construction of two additional roundabouts, one in Gagno and one in Montecaselli, during the project’s executive design phase.
Hence it took three years to complete the work.
In a nutshell, it involved building a 2-lane road about 1.5 km long including the security gates to enter the new port areas.
President Guerrieri described it as a strategic infrastructure for enhancing the new port areas in the northern zone, consisting of about 300,000m2 of yards and quays offering berths with -20 m seabed depths. Most of the new port areas have already been completed and are now operational. The remaining part is nearing completion.
During the opening ceremony, the President of the ports of Livorno and Piombino explained that the new facility is not only for connecting the new commercial-industrial port areas to the north of the port. “It is also to provide a link with the 1st new stretch of the SS398 Montegemoli-Gagno fast road, currently being built by ANAS.”
Not only. The new road network will also be a starting point for the 2nd new stretch of the SS398 fast road to the port areas mainly dedicated to ferry traffic. It’s a complex project. The Port Network Authority is currently developing it. The call for tenders is due to be published in the near future.
“Finally,” Mr. Guerrieri concluded, ‘the new road will also serve as a link with the new areas dedicated to yachting and boatbuilding called the Polo della Chiusa, as well as with the remaining Quagliodromo coastal areas up to the Tor del Sale port.
Special Commissioner, Tuscany Regional Administration President Eugenio Giani, was also present at the ribbon-cutting ceremony. He expressed his satisfaction with the completion of the project: “The work took a relatively short time to complete, especially in view of its complexity,” he said. “It is a fundamental project that satisfies the need for a safe, efficient, direct road network to the port, which is becoming a resource for the entire country.”
The mayor of Piombino, Francesco Ferrari, also emphasized the strategic importance of the project for local citizens, port operators, and tourists. ‘President Guerrieri had promised that the work would be completed before the summer and I am happy to note that he has kept his promise,’ he said. “Over the last few years, institutions have been concentrating on creating the conditions for our city and its stakeholders to have facilities worthy of note. With the first stretch of the new road now under construction, the priority is now to speed up the building of the second part.”
Deputy commissioner Roberta Macii wished to thank project designers and technical department staff at the Port Network Authority for their work: “These are all major steps towards permanently relaunching the port of Piombino,” she said. ‘This work, together with the construction of the new port areas, are the prerequisites for bringing the port city out of its complex crisis situation.”
As regards environmental sustainability, about 170,000 tonnes of materials from inert material recovery centres were used for building the embankments and about 15,000 tonnes of recycled materials for the superstructures, including road foundations and substructure, as well as the construction of the road surface and the sound-absorbing asphalt covering, to reduce the noise caused by vehicles in transit.
Translation by Giles Foster