Traffic lights not perfectly synchronized and cars in queues. Traffic on Via Roma in Cagliari is certainly nothing new, especially during rush hour. But drivers who travel along it every day, since the beginning of this week, have found themselves faced with something different: the traffic lights in front of the former maritime station are no longer in operation, now both are off and the relative pedestrian crossing has been cancelled. "It didn't lead to anything," reports Yuri Marcialis, municipal councilor for Mobility. "It was no longer useful, because there is work in progress in front and it ended at the construction site. When Via Roma on the portico side is reopened, the traffic system will have to be rethought."
In place of the traffic light halfway along Via Roma, another one has been built, at the height of the Arst station, in the new pedestrian crossing established on the occasion of the reopening of Piazza Matteotti . But here the – new – problems begin for those who have traveled the entire Lungoporto: it is well synchronized with the previous one, the one at the end of Via Roma, but not with the next one at the beginning of Viale La Plaia, at the intersection with Via Sassari . The result? When the green light turns on at the new traffic light, it takes 20 seconds (practically nothing, given that in the meantime you have to travel the approximately 150 meters that separate the two traffic lights) and the next one turns orange. With inevitable repercussions for traffic and slowdowns.
The problem always occurs, during rush hour and when there is little traffic, and only for those coming from the Lungoporto (for those coming from Via Riva di Ponente this inconvenience does not exist). The first three or four cars - at most - starting from the traffic light near the Arst manage to pass, the following ones are forced to stop a second time, with the red light lasting 30 seconds . Just a little slowing down at that point and there is a risk that no one will pass. With an additional insult: when the new traffic light is red, the one at the beginning of Viale La Plaia remains green for several seconds without anyone being able to pass.