In La Grenade the roundabout of discord to favor new commercial settlements. At the expense of those already present?
If all goes as planned, construction work on the La Grenade roundabout on state road 26 in Sarre will begin in autumn. This is an important work that is part of the wider road safety improvement plan with four roundabouts in all, some of which have already been completed.
In recent years the Sarre area bordering Aosta has experienced an important growth in commercial activities. The liberalization of the regulations made it possible to open stores and supermarkets within a short distance of each other. This situation also contributed to increasing transit traffic.
A 2017 study reveals that, on average, between 7 and 20, 800 vehicles per hour pass through the stretch of Statale 26 between Sarre and Aosta. The intense traffic is entirely channeled on the state road which, in the “hottest” stretch, cannot be widened nor can it be flanked by an efficient parallel road system such as that created for example in the commercial area of Saint-Christophe. Space is simply lacking. The vehicles to reach the commercial activities on the other side of the carriageway turn left, increasing the danger of the stretch.
The La Grenade roundabout was originally planned at Les Condemines, a few hundred meters further west. At that point it would have slowed down the speed of the vehicles coming from the long straight and would have served to sort traffic by avoiding the “dangerous” left turns to and from the commercial activities.
However, the project was changed a few years ago on the input of a petition sent in 2017. To sign it, owners and investors interested in occupying land in the La Grenade hamlet, a little further east, to open new businesses.
In fact, where today green meadows extend, one tomorrow (presumably between 2022 and 2023) new commercial and artisanal activities will arise. One of these will be a supermarket of a brand of the Veronese commercial group Maxi Di, the same that has entrusted the definitive and executive design of the new roundabout in La Grenade at a cost of almost 2 million euros.
With the roundabout built in Les Condemines, as per the original plan, the new activities would have had a more uncomfortable connection with the main road, instead by moving the work to La Grenade the connection with the SS 26 is direct. In the substantial documentation of the project entrusted to a study by the engineer Piero Bal of Aosta, former president of the Sarre building commission, it is foreseen the construction of a stretch of road that enters directly on the roundabout. In addition, sidewalks will be built downstream of the Italgas building and the SS26 up to the so-called Empereur access and a section of the municipal road to Poinsod will be widened up to the railway crossing.
Doubts about the new project
The new location of the roundabout makes the commercial activities already installed on the south side of the state turn up their noses. In the future, a ban on turning to the left will be introduced: a white line continues for a long stretch that goes from La Grenade to the traffic lights of Villa dei Fiori, a couple of kilometers further west, and potentially up to the roundabout that will rise at the height of Arensod, further west. This would mean that all the customers of the commercial activities present in that area (including a couple of supermarkets) not being able to turn left will have to travel a little or a lot more road to be able to enter or exit the commercial activities, while the customers of the points of sale that will open in the next few years will have direct access.
In addition, the new location of the roundabout will no longer break the long straight where several road accidents, including fatalities, have occurred in the past. The risk is that part of the objective of improving road safety will be lost. The work will also be located almost close to the junction between via Piccolo San Bernardo and the state road 26. During peak hours and in summer the traffic is more sustained and the roundabout could cause greater difficulties in entering for vehicles than from via Piccolo Saint Bernard must have to give way. And, consequently, cause even greater traffic jams.
According to the development projects of the area that the municipal administrations of Sarre are passing on, traffic on the State Road 26 will be lightened by a coplanar road closer to the Dora Baltea. This new route should be partly built using the narrow streets that today already connect the various activities of the craft area. For this solution, however, there are only rough projects and no certain timing. On the contrary, for the new roundabout, the work schedule is there.
In all this complex scenario, the doubts of those who have already invested to open commercial activities in the area and create new jobs emerge: road safety is good, but for what reason it was chosen to facilitate the inclusion of new commercial activities by moving to them the roundabout required, to the detriment of the already operational activities?
Marco Camilli
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