New stadium in Cagliari, the parking issue: «The fans' cars? At La Playa or in Viale Regina Elena»

Where will the fans who want to go to the stadium when the “Gigi Riva” is built and Cagliari takes the field leave their cars? In Viale La Playa, or in Viale Regina Elena. But also in Via Caprera. Or at the Scala di Ferro. These seem to be, among others, the areas identified by the Municipality to make ends meet for parking spaces in view of the events, sporting and otherwise, that will take place in the long-awaited new stadium in Cagliari.

The one who looked into the plans of the administration of Palazzo Bacaredda was the municipal councilor of Civica24 Giuseppe Farris, who, with documents in hand, says he saw "things that you humans cannot imagine".

A few weeks ago, the Sports Councilor, Giuseppe Macciotta, guaranteed that "the path of the new stadium continues apace". Mayor Massimo Zedda, just a few days ago, announced "one year after his inauguration" that the Municipality has entrusted the execution of the geognostic surveys and technical analyses preparatory to the definitive design of the new Sports Hall, which will be built in the Cuore parking lot.

The feeling, Farris claims, «is that in the face of almost unlimited funding we continue to work in watertight compartments, in the absence of an overall direction and, even before that, of an idea of the city, I tried to see clearly».

And here begins the reconstruction based on the documents. In particular, the "Final project containing the urban planning report and parking sizing" that accompanies the proposal for the construction of the new stadium, filed with the Municipality on February 21. The objective of the document, we read, is precisely to determine "the need for parking areas to be allocated to stadium users". Part of the substance is in the premises: "The context in which we are intervening, that of an attractor of important sporting events, is one in which the people who access it are willing to endure longer travel times since the activity that will be carried out is one of leisure and free time activities". And among the targets "there is a 12.2% decrease in car use in the city".

For the drafters of the project, explains the opposition representative, "if you want to go to the stadium you have to take into account half a day (even if it's played on Friday, Saturday and Monday, and maybe you work, it only matters to you) and if you want to go by car, know that you are a troglodyte, and they will do everything, as we will see, to prevent you from doing so".

The number of parking spaces is predetermined: "If 30,000 spectators go to the new stadium, between 6,700 and 7,100 parking spaces will need to be guaranteed," Farris explains. "And what do the planners come up with to make the accounts balance? First of all, there must be at least 3 users in each car. Then (in addition to the few parking spaces planned around the stadium) you can park in Piazzale Marco Polo or Piazzale dei Centomila (but shouldn't the surface metro pass through one of these?) and take a healthy walk."

Otherwise , "consider parking at San Paolo, La Playa, Stazione Rfi, Nuovo Campus Universitario, Scala di Ferro, Regina Elena or Caprera. From there, you can easily reach the stadium by bus or metro - it should be completed in about ten years. We've thought of everything. Well, almost everything."

Because with the construction of the new Sports Hall "which was not foreseen in this document, other parking lots will be removed". Don't worry, Farris jokes, "they will also find a solution towards the hinterland".

Enrico Fresu