The final green light has been given for the project solution involving an alternative route along the stretch of Via Ponte Romano affected by recent archaeological discoveries relating to private and public structures of the ancient Roman colony of Turris Libisonis.
The technical and economic feasibility study was approved by the Porto Torres municipal council following the successful conclusion, with the necessary requirements, of the decision-making conference. The project, in agreement with the Region and the Superintendency of Archaeological Heritage of Sassari and Nuoro, involves reorganizing the use of the €500,000 funding, allocated to resolve the traffic issues and enhance the archaeological heritage of Via Ponte Romano, which will become a one-way street.
The area has been the subject of archaeological excavations, where in 2020 a polychrome mosaic, a portion of the floor of a luxurious Roman villa, was discovered. This discovery forced the road to be closed for four years. The new plan aims to improve traffic safety and reconcile mobility needs with the protection of the Roman city's archaeological heritage. The work will primarily involve the stretch along the northern perimeter of the archaeological area, near the Roman Bridge, between the intersection of Via Ponte Romano and Via Fontana Vecchia and the entrance to the urban area, near the National Antiquarium Museum. The works include the redevelopment of existing pedestrian paths and the construction of two sections of cycle path, one on its own path and the other adjacent to the one-way vehicle lane.
The goal is to allow the safe passage of vehicles at moderate speeds to promote slow and sustainable mobility, and to expose the largest mosaic discovered so far in Porto Torres, located beneath the road that runs alongside the archaeological site near the so-called Terme Pallottino. Another important planned objective is to improve connections between the port, the archaeological site, and the city center to accommodate tourist flows from the maritime port, offering users safer and more convenient access to the city's main cultural sites. The current planned works therefore represent the continuation of an important step in the broader road redevelopment project in the hinterland area, helping to make the strategic entrance to the city safer and more capable of enhancing one of Porto Torres's most historically and culturally significant sites. The project, approved by the executive branch led by Mayor Massimo Mulas, includes an explanatory sign indicating the discovery on Via Ponte Romano, near the former Superintendency offices, of archaeological structures with mosaic floors belonging to a Roman-era domus.
