As of: March 14, 2024, 9:50 p.m
By: Victoria Krumbeck
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The expansion of the cycle path around Lake Garda is controversial.
Many voices criticize the project.
The costs now reach one billion.
Riva del Garda – Cycle around Lake Garda – a wish that many holidaymakers on Lake Garda with an affinity for cycling certainly have.
This will probably be possible in the next few years when the cycle path between Limone sul Garda and Riva del Garda is completed.
In Italy, the construction of the path that is to be attached to the cliff is controversial.
The costs of the 144 kilometer long project are skyrocketing.
Critics worry about nature and human life.
Cycle path on Lake Garda: “High risk to people’s lives”
On the Lake Garda website, the expansion of the cycle path is described as one of the “most spectacular cycle path projects in Europe”.
The “Garda by Bike” or “Ciclovia del Garda” project is intended to enable a complete circumnavigation of the lake by bike in a few years.
Cycle paths are being built in all sections of Lake Garda, some of which have already been completed.
However, the most complicated part is yet to come.
The cycle and footpath from Limone sul Garda to the north, which is attached to the rock on the west bank, is already two kilometers long.
Another five kilometers to Riva del Garda are still missing.
Circumnavigating Lake Garda: A cycling project should make this possible in the future.
Some of the paths should hang on the rocks.
© Frank Bienewald/IMAGO
Citizens, mayors and environmentalists reject the construction of the dangerous section.
The denunciations of numerous opponents are clearly stated.
The cycle path is “a devastating steel and concrete monster, with a high risk to people’s lives, with exorbitant costs and destined to forever disfigure one of the most beautiful landscapes in the world,” as quoted by
La Repubblica
.
The newspaper writes that it is supported by numerous companies, including German tour operators.
Controversial cycle path on Lake Garda – costs are rising: “Eight million euros per kilometer”
It's not just the appearance of the steel colossus that is criticized.
It is the high prices that scare many people, as Paolo Pileri, professor of spatial planning at the Polytechnic of Milan
La Repubblica
, explains.
In 2017, around 194 million euros were included for cycle path expansion.
In 2021 the costs rose to 292 million, in 2022 to 344 million and in 2024 to over one billion euros.
“The average price is now around 8 million per kilometer, which is 90 times higher than that of a normal cycle path,” says Pileri.
The part on the west coast attached to the mountain walls will be covered to protect pedestrians and cyclists from boulders and landslides, as Paolo Matteotti from the Interregional Coordination for the Protection of Lake Garda explains.
The route will be around 5 meters above the lake, “the unquantified maintenance costs appear exorbitant,” says Matteotti.
Cycling project on Lake Garda: Danger of quarry and natural damage
In addition, there is the destruction of the environment and landscape as well as the endangerment of people, as Manuela Baldracchi, President of the Italia Nostra association, which campaigns for nature and cultural protection, criticizes.
“The slopes of Trentino will be shaved and unrecognizable,” she explains.
In addition, the planned cycle path will touch many slopes that have been known for landslides in the past.
It was only in February that an avalanche of stones thundered onto the road near Trento, raising concerns about safety on the cycle paths.
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Geologist Agostino Pasquali Coluzzi, who was commissioned to carry out an expert report, is also concerned.
He criticizes the areas with an increased risk of breakage that have not been sufficiently analyzed.
The people of Riva del Garda want to protest against the cycle path plans on April 20th.
They demand changes to the planned project.
(vk)