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New pedestrian areas, more greenery and order. Maran and Granelli: "Care for public space and gentle mobility are fundamental for the quality of life in the neighbourhoods". And Piazze Aperte continues in via Val Lagarina, via Pontano and piazza Minniti

Milan, November 26 2020 – From tactical urban planning experiments to structural interventions capable of permanently improving the quality and liveability of public space. Work begins this week in Piazza Dergano and Piazzale Lavater, two of the first areas in which the "Open Squares" project landed in 2018 and 2019, transforming places devoid of identity and order into new spaces for meeting, socializing and participation, characterized from sustainable forms of mobility.
The interventions carried out on an experimental basis allowed the monitoring of the effects of the objectives achieved, allowing the identification of the corrective and integrative actions to be implemented in the definitive configuration of the two squares.

“A square in every neighborhood - declares the councilor for urban planning Pierfrancesco Maran -. This is the objective we have set ourselves since the beginning of our mandate, highlighted in the strategy for Milan 2030, because the quality of public space is a fundamental element for the aggregation, safety and liveability of our neighborhoods. With these two interventions, on the one hand we formalize the birth of a new square that didn't even exist until two years ago, a new pedestrian space that immediately proved to be a great resource for the neighborhood, while with Lavater we enhance a large green area giving continuity and harmony to the three sections of which it is composed, in full compliance with the constraints on which it is subjected".

“The Open Squares are an opportunity to redevelop entire neighborhood areas - declares Marco Granelli, councilor for Mobility and Public Works -. The interventions extend from squares to nearby streets, improving mobility, promoting a balance between pedestrians, cyclists, motorcyclists and motorists, safer for everyone, and increasing the pedestrian spaces useful for citizens, schools and other aggregation activities and commerce neighborhood, to remain present in the neighborhood. This is how zone 30 of the Dergano district is concretely created, traffic is removed, the quality of life of citizens, environmental quality and road safety are improved".

Dergano Square
It was the first "Open Square" in Milan and one of the most appreciated creations by the citizens, home to hard-fought ping-pong tournaments in all seasons of the year. In 2018, the area previously occupied by improper parking was pedestrianised, providing for some changes to the road system. The definitive intervention follows the objectives achieved with the experimentation: creation of larger and more usable pedestrian spaces by raising the streets to sidewalk level; redevelopment of floors with higher quality materials; insertion of new street furniture elements such as benches, planters and trees.
The streets affected by the interventions are via Ciaia from piazza Dergano to via Guerzoni, via Guerzoni to viale Jenner, via Bruni, the entire piazza Dergano including the neighboring road section, via Cesare Brivio, Conte Verde and dei Carafa.

The construction site will start on Monday 30 November and will be organized in two phases. Signs are already being installed in via Guerzoni to warn citizens. Via Ciaia and the stretch of via Guerzoni between via Ciaia and via Cafiero will be raised at pavement level; the road will be protected and separated from pedestrian areas through the insertion of planters, benches, bicycle racks and "Parisian" type bollards which will also have the function of discouraging irregular parking on the pavement. The paving will be made of stone cubes and the concrete curbs of the existing flowerbeds will be replaced with granite ones.
In the stretch between Via Cafiero and Viale Jenner, a one-way traffic will be created towards Viale Jenner to allow parking on one side of the road. The parking stalls will therefore be on the opposite side of the street from the current one, as well as in via Bruni to facilitate the right turn onto via Cafiero, which will be made two-way in the short stretch between via Butti and via Bruni. Work on this first phase is expected to be completed in April.

The second phase of the intervention, which will last approximately 200 days, concerns Piazza Dergano and Via Tartini, Brivio, Conte Verde and Via dei Carafa. Also in Piazza Dergano the road will be raised at pavement level and the flowerbeds of the trees located to the north of the square will be redesigned, inserting them into a larger area with concrete paving. The road passage between via Tartini and via Conte Verde will be maintained with a 2,75 meter wide road which will also allow access to the only street with a driveway on this side. The road will be protected by new trees in flowerbeds and with "Parisian trees". Additional trees will be inserted to the north of the square and the edges of the existing flowerbeds will be made uniform.

A further concrete area will be created on the east side of the square, near the curve that leads from via Brivio to via Conte Verde with the installation of new trees. The redevelopment of Piazza Dergano also involves moving the bike sharing station to the west side, towards Via Tartini, to facilitate access for cyclists and give more safety to the area. The ATM stop on line 82 which opens onto via Tartini, south-north direction, will be moved as a result of the widening of the pavement. The paving of the square areas will be in stone cubes with the exception of the green or concrete areas. In via Tartini the sidewalks will be widened and two guardrails will be placed on the road for greater road safety. The central traffic divider will be eliminated at the roundabout. In via Conte Verde the parking already present will be structured and the pavement on the even side of the street will be narrowed to also keep parking in line. In via Brivio the interventions will involve the widening of the pavements except in correspondence with the parking stalls, speed moderation and the insertion of two protected pedestrian crossings are planned to facilitate safe transit near the park. Finally, the current direction of travel will be reversed in via dei Carafa.

Piazzale Lavater
With "Piazze Aperte" in 2019, the enlargement of the central pedestrian area, the installation of racks and benches, and the safety of the intersection with Via Ramazzini have created a new space to live in safety, very popular with school children. via Stoppani and the neighborhood. The definitive intervention starting in the next few days involves the creation of over 1.500 square meters of additional pedestrian areas, the installation of six new trees, a renewed flooring and seats in Montorfano granite. The project, which takes into account the environmental and historical constraints on the square, aims to respect its shape, consolidating the character of an open, unitary and continuous space that unravels up to via Morgagni and piazza Lavater. The three large tree-lined ovals that make up the square are therefore enhanced and regenerated with renovated flowerbeds and seats that allow them to be fully enjoyed. On the east side of the square, new trees will be planted and a free area paved with drawings will be maintained for the children of the primary school in via Stoppani to play. The flooring will be made of gray gneiss; the central areas corresponding to the flowerbeds will be configured in slabs delimited by granite curbs, while in the surrounding areas cubes of the same material will be used. The southern part of the square will remain asphalted in connection with the new cycle/pedestrian path that will be built later to connect Lavater to Piazza Piola, as foreseen in the Urban Sustainable Mobility Plan. The lighting poles will be moved according to the new project design to improve the visibility of the spaces. The duration of the works will be approximately 500 days.
Not just Dergano and Lavater. The next Open Square preparing for a permanent redevelopment intervention is Piazza Angilberto II, where the works will start by the beginning of 2021, followed by Piazza Belloveso.

Open Squares: the interventions in via Val Lagarina, via Pontano and piazza Minniti
And the implementation of new tactical urban planning interventions in the city continues as part of "Open Squares", selected from the requests and proposals received from the territory. Work is currently underway in via Val Lagarina, where the aim is to make it safe and pleasant for children to leave school, as happened in via Venini a Nolo and in viale Molise. The large area in front of the institute will be transformed into a new green square equipped with 5 potted trees and 10 vegetable boxes. The flooring will be colored like a liquid playground, in which children will be able to explore the space, discover it and transform the urban experience into an educational-training process. The intervention is accompanied by a rationalization and reorganization of parking along via Val Lagarina and via Val Malenco. Subsequently, a Zone 30 will be established in the Vialba district.

Work is also starting in via Pontano, a piece of the wider reactivation of the long railway that goes from via Padova to viale Monza. After the coloring of the walls which took place in 2019 with the Muri Liberi project, the tactical intervention will have the Pontano/Morandi/Pimentel/Russo intersection as its fulcrum, with the aim of connecting, through a cycle route, Piazza del Governo Provvisorio to the Park Trotter and via Rovereto, already home to the TrenataMi in Verde soft mobility project. Pedestrian use along the railway in the stretch from via Morandi to viale Monza will also be made easier with a widening of the sidewalk.

Finally, the coloring of Piazza Minniti will begin next week, completing the intervention which has seen the partial pedestrianization of the square in recent weeks. The artistic project was selected among the 43 proposals received in response to the open public call as part of the “CLEAR – City LivEAbility by Redesign” project financed by EIT Urban Mobility, an initiative of the European Institute for Innovation and Technology (EIT) dedicated to innovation in the field of urban mobility. The winner was the Jungle group, an independent Milanese agency, specialized in urban activations and communication campaigns, with the Roman artist Camilla Falsini, whose work ranges from illustration to mural paintings, and who already has works under her belt in Milan, Rome, Turin, Palermo, Naples, Padua and Bologna.

Photo gallery: https://flic.kr/s/aHsmSpgN7N