Institutional portal - Municipality of Milan

Milan, August 27 2020 – 18 cycle route construction sites have been completed since 30 April, when the Strade Aperte program was launched. To date, there are over 21 kilometers of cycle paths that can already be used by citizens who choose the bike or scooter, whether owned or shared, for urban travel.

In addition to the cycle routes already completed, seven other construction sites are underway for a further 10,4 kilometers (Isola Farini, Legioni Romane Bern Zurich, Palmanova zone 30, Cusio, viale Monza, Cerchia Navigli Sforza – Pontaccio, Vento cycle path - lot 1 Alzaia Naviglio Pavese ) and in the first half of September two new construction sites will open for another 4,8 kilometres: Milan Ortica – Segrate connection (Buccari, Ortica, S. Faustino, Trentacoste, Bistolfi, Crespi, Caduti di Marcinelle) and the area 30 service roads in Corso Sempione and parking on the central carriageway.

By October 15th, over 35 kilometers of new cycle routes will therefore be made available.

“We made a promise - declares Marco Granelli, councilor for Mobility - and today we are close to the goal we had set ourselves. These roads integrate our network of cycle paths and today constitute a real alternative to the car, integrating with public transport to allow agile, fast and safe travel for those who choose sustainable mobility. We wanted to be ready for citizens to return to on-site activities and for the reopening of schools and we are succeeding. We are aware that bikes do not replace buses and subways and we are also working to make it possible to return to using public transport safely. But for those who move within their neighborhood or over short distances, the bicycle or scooter are a possible choice that we want to encourage."

The network is diversified depending on the morphology of urban roads. There are cycle paths in the structure such as via Monte Rosa between Amendola and Buonarroti, a construction site heavily delayed by two companies with which the Municipality has interrupted relations, but now finally concluded with a redeveloped road; cycle paths mixed in structure and signage like the one between Bisceglie and Bande Nere; routes traced only with signs with real cycle paths as in Corso Buenos Aires; lighter cycle lanes, bike lanes as in Viale Monza and Viale Puglie; service roads with speed reduced to 30 km/h to allow safe and mixed transit for bicycles, cars, motorbikes and pedestrians.

There are radial routes from the center to the outskirts through the numerous neighborhoods of the city such as the itinerary between Piazza San Babila and Sesto San Giovanni in Sesto Marelli or from the Arco della Pace to Mind in Cascina Merlata or from Porta Volta to the North park in Cinisello Balsamo passing through the Isola district, or ring roads or transversal sections such as the Cerchia dei Navigli. The Faenza – Famagosta – Cermenate axis, the axis of the avenues of the Regions (Romagna – Campania – Mugello – Molise – Puglie), or important connections for suburban neighborhoods such as Ovidio – Molise – Calvairate and finally connections between the Municipality of Milan and other Municipalities of the metropolitan city, combining urban and extra-urban cycle routes, such as the connection with Novate Milanese and Segrate through the Ortica and Rubattino districts.

Many are itineraries that are useful every day for the home-work or home-school route but there are also itineraries with high landscape, historical and tourist value such as the "VenTo" cycle path along the Naviglio Pavese towpath to complete the route that connects Milan and its Darsena with the Po river and its cycle path between Turin and Venice.

With the resumption of schools and work activities, citizens will be able to choose not to use the car but the bicycle or scooter, or join the sharing bike or scooter to the subway. Many of these interventions are important for road safety because they were carried out on roads where many accidents with injuries occurred, such as the Legioni Romane, Bern and Zurich streets traveled at high speed and with risky manoeuvres. Or Viale Monza, where in the last nine years an accident has been recorded every 3 days, with 150 injuries per year, 69% of which are pedestrians, cyclists, motorcyclists, due to the high speed and disorder of irregular parking.

The interventions respond to requests and directions from the municipalities, such as that of Municipality 6 on the cycle path network of its popular neighborhoods between Bande Nere, Giambellino, Lorenteggio; Municipality 1 has requested interventions on radial axes such as Corso Venezia and Cerchia dei Naviglio; Municipality 3 with the development of Corso Buenos Aires and the Ortica and Rubattino districts; Municipality 8 with requests on Sempione and Certosa.

“At this point of the journey - concludes Granelli - for this great work that has been done in just a few months I want to thank the numerous, passionate and tireless managers, technicians and designers of the Municipality of Milan and of AMAT and the road technical area that creates the projects together with businesses. They worked intensely day and night on this program, to help Milan respond to the Covid-19 emergency but also to the environmental challenge of combating traffic and pollution. And thanks to the cycling associations, with whom we have discussed, even with different positions, but we are doing so in a spirit of co-responsibility with periodic, systematic and concrete meetings. Many of the routes were born from their solicitations, from the 'unstitched blankets' of Saturday mornings spent together by bike on the streets of Milan. The road is still long but it is traced."