Teramo-sea:the highway that ANAS intends to build in the flood-prone area

The 170 million euro project for the fourth lot of the Teramo-mare highway, promoted by ANAS, has raised a heated debate in Abruzzo, with growing concerns about the risks related to hydrogeological safety.In fact, based on the same maps deposited by ANAS, the infrastructure it would have to cross an area known to be flood-prone.The alarm was raised, in particular, by the Forum of water movements and the "Terra Lieta" Committee, who denounced how the project ignores the specific hydrogeological criticalities of the territory.Opponents accuse ANAS of not having taken into consideration less impactful solutions, neglecting the development of an infrastructure plan that respects the fragility of the area.

The intervention specifically concerns the creation of a variant of the Gran Sasso d'Italia state road 80, with the aim of completing the itinerary between the A14 motorway junction and the Adriatica state road 16.The territory interested it is that of the Municipalities of Giulianova, Notaresco and Roseto degli Abruzzi, all in the Province of Teramo.The committees have been asking for the modification of the route for some time, since the current ANAS project provides for it crossing agricultural land with hydrogeological problems, in an area considered to be at significant risk of flooding due to the proximity of the Tordino river.The recent flood, which caused significant devastation, has strengthened the fear that the construction of a highway could further aggravate the risks for the territory and the population.«In 2024 it is truly incredible that we are going ahead with literally reckless operations, given that In just a few years, the Tordino has already damaged the previous lots with small floods – he put pen to paper in a communicated the Abruzzo Forum of Water Movements -.In any case, we believe that the bodies involved in various capacities, starting from the civil engineering offices, must let reason prevail in the face of an operation that is dangerous for public safety."

The “Terra Lieta” Committee echoed the Forum:«The same Via commission (Environmental impact assessment) of the Ministry of the Environment has made these doubts its own by asking Anas to redo the calculations on the basis of more significant floods – denounced the members of the collective, at the forefront of the battle for the reconstruction of the current route -.Anas' answers are surreal to say the least as, by refusing to do these in-depth studies, he takes refuge in conversations made years earlier, obviously devoid of these technical data.It is enough to read the non-answers given to the ministry to understand the level of risk that they prefer to take in order to spend 170 million euros."The risk feared by the Committee is that the new road constitutes «with its enormous embankment», a «long artificial barrier» and that, in the event of a flood of the Tordino river, the waters will flow « backwards onto the next inhabited area of ​​Cologna beach», not being able to flow away.

The associations also attacked the extraordinary commissioner and ANAS manager Eutimio Mucilli, who was entrusted with the project, who is currently under investigation in the bribery case that engulfed ANAS last month.In fact, Mucilli is accused of having a personal economic relationship with the contractor of the "Variante Tremezzina", the stretch of road that runs along Lake Como.Mucilli himself called the services conference on the project for yesterday, which then turned out to be merely interlocutory, "heedless - added the Committee - of the numerous observations made at the work and the lack of the opinion of the environmental impact commission".

[by Stefano Baudino]