Via dell'Industria, in poor condition in several sections, with a heavy vehicular load, over 500 vehicles a year passing through the port of Porto Torres, a hub with over a million passengers, and the industrial area, among the largest in Sardinia, with a high traffic flow .
The road, a former provincial road now downgraded to a municipal road, is a vital traffic hub for entering and exiting the Porto Torres city center and reaching neighboring towns, with peak traffic times. It has critical issues that classify it as one of the most dangerous roads in the world, with depressions and non-existent signage, no lighting, and often the scene of accidents, some of which are serious.
Last Thursday morning , when the 70-year-old experienced cyclist, Gavino Petretto, was hit by a Volkswagen Golf , and was then transported in serious conditions at the civil hospital of Sassari.
Mayor Massimo Mulas has initiated discussions with the regional councilor for Public Works, Antonio Piu, to find a solution and determine which entity should be responsible for making a thoroughfare that is now considered a regional road safe. " As a municipality, we are unable to sustain the maintenance costs or the regular inspections required for a thoroughfare of this type and an overpass like the Colombo Bridge, crossed by hundreds of vehicles every day . This administration cannot shoulder the maintenance costs of four kilometers of road, with heavy repercussions on municipal coffers," the mayor emphasized. "From the point of view of the Highway Code, it does not have the characteristics of an urban road, and cannot be classified as such, therefore," adds Mulas, "we are in discussions with the Region to regulate the access points to ports, airports, and intermodal centers, with the possibility of having the Colombo bridge recognized as a regional road, where it is possible to intervene with resources other than municipal ones. This infrastructure presents critical issues in the joints, with evident deterioration, where we intervene with a few patches but we cannot afford more, otherwise I would be forced to close a road, which is no longer safe."
Via dell'Industria, which also runs under the 250-meter-long Colombo Bridge, leads directly onto State Road 131, connecting to an international port and the Vespucci Bridge, where the Municipality has invested its own resources to ensure its trafficability. "We are not willing to continue funding work on a regional asset, city resources on a road that the Region should take care of," adds the mayor, "because a municipal body is taking on work on roads used by its own citizens and not those used by the entire Sardinian region."