Institutional portal - Municipality of Milan

The first major intervention in 40 years: maintenance, wider pavements, pedestrian crossings, designated parking, lighting and new trees
 
Milan, August 19 2019 – The first works to achieve the redevelopment of via Benedetto Marcello start tomorrow, Tuesday 20 August. Thanks to maintenance interventions, which will last approximately three months, the area hosting the market will be regenerated with the arrangement of the sidewalks and parterre, the reorganization of the market spaces and the installation of new trees, to complete and restore the existing rows . This is the first phase of a process that intends to redevelop this precious green axis of the neighborhood, making it more usable and safe.
 
“It is the first serious maintenance intervention on the parterre from the 80s to today – declare the councilors Pierfrancesco Maran (Urban Planning) and Marco Granelli (Mobility and Public Works) –. A fundamental step towards a redevelopment which in perspective aims to bring Benedetto Marcello to resemble the axis of via Morgagni. The project is part of the many public and private interventions underway on the Piazza San Babila-Via Padova axis and represents a further step in the regeneration of squares and places in the center of neighborhoods, aimed at improving the quality of public space with more trees, pedestrian areas and traffic calming”.

The works on the market area will take place in two phases, involving first one part of the parterre and then the other. During the intervention, the market stalls in the construction site area will be moved to viale A. Doria, in the stretch between piazzale Loreto and via Palestrina, and will then return to via Benedetto Marcello once the intervention is completed.

“This intervention – adds the councilor for Commerce and Productive Activities Cristina Tajani – aims to make the area more livable for pedestrians, car parking safer and more orderly and the market experience more pleasant. It is a historic market, very popular and appreciated, and for this reason, in agreement with the operators, we wanted to improve the quality of the area and facilitate accessibility to the commercial spaces".

“Satisfaction with the start of these works to reorganize and improve the area with the prospect of carrying out further redevelopment works also in the neighboring streets”, expresses Caterina Antola, president of Municipality 3.
 
According to the indications of the Superintendence, real redevelopment interventions will also be carried out: the new arrangement of the area will safeguard two pedestrian paths along the two lateral tree-lined rows of the parterre. Pedestrian access to the car park will be permitted via the pedestrian crossings located at the intersections with via Vitruvio and via Scarlatti and two new pedestrian crossings, which currently do not exist, will be built in the middle of the parterre, along via Benedetto Marcello.
The entire area will be illuminated through a new system that does not exist today. Finally, we will intervene on the trees. The area currently hosts 43 specimens of lime and plane trees and the intervention, with the aim of completing the four rows of trees, involves the planting of 19 new trees and the expansion of the square turnstiles that surround them.
The current routes at the intersection with Via Vitruvio will be protected and enhanced by expanding the available surfaces, eliminating architectural barriers and providing paving with loges routes for the visually impaired. In the central parterre, the yellow/blue stalls will be marked for regulated parking to protect residents and will be reorganized so as not to damage the trees. The car park will be accessible via two entrance and two exit driveways. Stalls will also be located along Via Benedetto Marcello, thus distancing cars from trees and their roots, improving their quality and vegetative conditions.
 
The works of this first phase will cost around 450 thousand euros.
Subsequently, the Municipality will expand the redevelopment intervention to the entire axis and the surrounding streets, agreeing it with the Superintendency. For the definition of this project, for which an allocation of 1 million euros is expected from the underground car park agreement created years ago, meetings will take place in the coming months at Municipality 3.