A construction project that lasted more than two years, €10.943 million spent, endless controversy, seemingly insufficient workers, work begun and then suspended when the ancient city wall emerged underground. Now a date will put everything to rest: "Via Roma will reopen by mid-August," the City Council has announced.
The frame
There's more than one detail worthy of history regarding this redevelopment that turned odyssey: none other than Stefano Boeri, the star architect of the Madonnina, was hired by Paolo Truzzu to transform the Cagliari residents' promenade. It was 2022. The mayor, representing the Brothers of Italy (FdI), decided to entrust the work to a professional sympathizer of the other political faction to bring about a revolution in the heart of the city. It ended a bit like Tancredi in The Leopard: changing everything to change nothing. Massimo Zedda, the new mayor from June 2024, didn't want the forest (rejected by the citizens for safety reasons), nor the tunnel to free Via Roma from traffic. It would have been a seamless whole, from the porticoes to the port: basalt, greenery, and water, driving the cost of the works to eighty million euros.
Last Stand
"You can't go there, it's dangerous," warns the construction site manager, addressing the onlookers outside the fence. The section of Via Roma still under padlock begins at the intersection with Via dei Mille. But along the stretch that extends to Via Baylle, the work is almost finished. There's grass, aromatic plants, still-shrink-wrapped benches, a lane for walking, two blocks with double benches and a small table in the center, like in large parks, and even trash cans for the exclusive use of dog walkers (the garbage bags are only thrown there, and there's even a drawing of the four-legged friend).
The councilors
Yuri Marcialis, Head of Mobility, Urban Infrastructure, and Office Management, spares no detail: "The section of Via Roma currently undergoing work, which began in February 2025, will be reopened by mid-August. Starting Monday, we'll have a timetable for the gradual removal of the fences and the return of full usability to the public space. This is a crucial step, part of a broader project launched in 2023, which marks a further step forward in the redevelopment of one of the city's most iconic urban axes." Carlo Serra, Councilor for Economic Development, says: "We're happy to see the completion of this important project. It's clear that the traffic blockage on Via Roma in recent years cannot have benefited the historic center's business community; fortunately, we have a healthy economic fabric, and most businesses, albeit with great difficulty, have managed to hold on. We now expect a recovery that we assume will be tangible next season, but we need to start working on it now." The Municipality, in synergy with trade associations and individual businesses, will do its part to support this relaunch."
The opposition
Edoardo Tocco, a member of Forza Italia, was Prime Minister in the previous council. "The Via Roma project," he recalls, "was launched under the previous administration and is now coming to an end. It was a hardship for the historic center, but the local businesses will be able to recover. There's been too much criticism: when you touch Via Roma for the people of Cagliari, you're opening a wound. Now it's time for it to heal." The redevelopment of the first section was championed by residents and tourists. The second report card for a project that cost €542,949.36 is almost here.
Alessandra Carta