The investments in city cycle mobility made by the Municipality of Pisa continue thanks to the funds intercepted as part of the funding provided by the PNRR. After the planned intervention to build the new section of the Trammino cycle path, which will connect via Viaccia to via Livornese, and the one to build the cycle/pedestrian path in via Contessa Matilde, from Largo Cocco Griffi to Via San Ranierino, the municipal administration has launched the tender procedures for the construction of two new urban cycle paths. The first will connect the via di Pratale/via Moruzzi axis with the cycle path of via Matteucci/via di Cisanello, the second the bridge over the Aurelia in via Umberto Giordano, in the CEP district.
“The first of the two projects, financed for about 200 thousand euros – declares the Councilor for Mobility Massimo Dringoli – concerns the first lot of works to create a cycle link between the central station of Pisa and the CNR area. It is a cycle path that had been requested by the CNR itself and which will be created thanks to a new cycle path that will branch off, in via Matteucci, near the Forum Center, from the cycle path that connects the station to the Cisanello hospital. Moreover, there are also the buildings of the University of Pisa for the Faculty of Chemistry and those of the Faculty of Biology will be built. Both faculties will therefore be ‘served’ by the new infrastructure”.
“The second project, also financed with PNRR funds for over 162 thousand euros – continues Dringoli – instead refers to the first lot of interventions to create a cycle-pedestrian path between the bridge over the Aurelia and via Umberto Giordano. A cycle path which, joining with the cycle lanes present on the Lungarno Leopardi, it will therefore complete the connection between the city and the CEP district passing through via Fossa Ducaria for which, at this stage, the construction of the lighting is not envisaged which will be carried out in a second moment”.
“These two interventions, together with those for the construction of the new section of the Trammino cycle path, which will connect via Viaccia to via Livornese, and the one to create the cycle / pedestrian path in via Contessa Matilde, from largo Cocco Griffi to via San Ranierino – he concludes the councilor – were financed with funds intercepted by the municipal administration as part of the funding of the PNRR for a total, considering the four projects, of almost 1.6 million euros. The runway is also in the executive planning phase cycle path along viale delle Cascine to connect the city with the San Rossore estate. This project, already agreed with the Superintendency, will also be carried out with PNRR funds for an investment of around 1.5 million euros”.
CNR-via Matteucci cycle path
The intervention concerns the construction of the 1st lot of the cycle path that connects the existing cycle path north of the city of Pisa to the border with the municipality of San Giuliano Terme, along the via di Pratale-via Moruzzi axis, with the cycle path of via Matteucci-via di Cisanello. This is the cycle path that extends to the east of the city starting from the current CNR roundabout up to via Matteucci near the Centro Forum, closing the cycle ring. Considering the high concentration of schools and universities, public service facilities and commercial activities along the route or in the immediate vicinity, the importance of creating the planned cycle and pedestrian path as the main urban link is clear.
The general project involves the construction of a cycle path along the main existing road system (Via Volpi and Via Luzzatto), where there are still free areas, starting from the perimeter of the CNR. After about 300 meters on this side of the road it is necessary to move to the other side, due to the presence of some buildings bordering the road which do not allow you to continue on this side. On the opposite side of via Luzzatto the sidewalk continues up to the traffic light of via Valgimigli with the same characteristics and it is therefore possible to hypothesize a similar intervention of construction of a cycle path in its own place.
Further on, in the stretch along Via Nenni, there are no areas available along the road and for this reason, at the height of the traffic light system in Via Valgimigli, the route is expected to be moved within the ‘delle Torri’ linear park. The ‘delle Torri’ park runs almost parallel to via Nenni and lends itself well to the purpose, given that there are already three 2.50-metre-wide paths inside it, paved with self-locking pavers, and one of these can be usefully reserved for transit of bicycles.
To give continuity to the cycle path, a reorganization of the roadway on the road axis via Valgimigli-via De Ruggiero is envisaged east of the traffic light, creating two lateral cycle lanes with the partial narrowing of the vehicular lanes. The two-way stretch, approximately 570 meters long, today with one lane in each direction, has a carriageway approximately 8.50 meters wide, and it is possible to bring each lane back to 3 meters (here the bus passes in the two directions of travel and it is not possible to reduce them further) without penalizing the viability, so as to leave the remaining space (about 1 meter beyond the ditch) for the two wheels. These cycle lanes appear very useful because they connect to the cycle path network, in addition to the dense residential and commercial and service fabric, the various public activities related to the road, the school complex (Istituto comprensivo Galilei), the skate park, the sports area of San Cataldo.
Finally, to get to rejoin the cycle path of via Matteucci from the ‘delle Torri’ park, the cycle path crosses via di Cisanello (a simple adaptation of the existing raised crossing is envisaged) and transforms into a mixed cycle/pedestrian path to pass into the small square (now pedestrian) and then reach the existing pedestrian crossing, to be adapted and redeveloped as a cycle and pedestrian crossing.
CEP-Ponte sull’Aurelia cycle path
The project concerns the construction of the 1st lot of the cycle/pedestrian path that extends between the bridge over the Aurelia and via Umberto Giordano and is part of a larger project, which will be implemented later, which provides for its extension inside the floodplain for safely reach the CEP bridge and from here, having crossed the Arno on cycle lanes, rejoin the cycle path that leads to the sea. The intervention in question falls within the objectives of the municipal administration aimed at completing the city cycle network as a valid alternative to the use of the car for travel within the city, at enhancing and improving the use of the banks of the Arno river and at improving of the livability of the neighborhoods, through the mending of the stretches of existing pedestrian and cycle paths. The construction of the cycle/pedestrian lane will in fact serve to connect the CEP district with the city centre, linking up with the cycle lanes on the Lungarno Leopardi.
The intervention area develops on the bank embankment, on the right bank of the Arno river, west of Pisa. The route starts from the traffic light crossing recently built near the bridge over the Aurelia and reaches the cycle/pedestrian section of via Umberto Giordano by crossing via Fossa Ducaria.
The route has uneven characteristics depending on the stretches. A first stretch, about 210 meters long, starting from the via Aurelia, in which the cycle/pedestrian path is built on a stretch of road (part of the old route of via Ippica) asphalted in recent years, during the construction works of the roundabout of via Fossa Ducaria, during which the road was used as an alternative bypass for the connection with the via Aurelia.
A second stretch, about 120 meters long, which goes from here to the intersection of via Tesio with via Fossa Ducaria and is still part of the old via Ippica, of which only traces of the road pavement remain, now degraded and invaded by herbaceous vegetation.
A third stretch of about 310 metres, in which the route continues on the head of the embankment, raised above the road, skirting the Via della Fossa Ducaria. On the top of the grass embankment there is now an earth path already used today, albeit precariously by the residents of the neighborhood on foot or by bicycle, as well as by the vehicles for the maintenance of the embankment.
At the height of the sports field, the embankment path stops (it is the same via Fossa Ducaria that was built on the embankment) and the cycle path continues after crossing via Fossa Ducaria to merge into via Umberto Giordano via the cycle/pedestrian path existing next to the sports field and enter the district from here.
There are no network systems along the entire route. The route is not directly illuminated but visibility is guaranteed by street lighting, where present.