Ribbon cutting for the “Via Verde Costa dei Trabocchi”the cycle path which winds onformer disused railway line that from Ortona arrives in Vasto (some stretches are still to be completed) along one of the most suggestive stretches of the Adriatic coast.
“Today is a historic and important day for the Province of Chieti and for all of Abruzzo. It is a great pride and honor for me to inaugurate with all of you, and also on behalf of the provincial councilors whom I thank for being by my side not only here but every day, this precious infrastructure which is the result of the enlightened intuition of those who preceded me. I therefore want to address a dutiful thanks to my predecessors, da Thomas Coletti con Manfredo Pulsinellia Mauro Febbo, Enrico Di Giuseppantonio it’s at Mario Pupillo who started and carried forward this important project with firmness and determination before me”. With these words the president of the Province of Chieti, Francis Menna opened the inaugural ceremony of the Via Verde Costa dei Trabocchi.
“We have already achieved one goal in addition to this one that we are about to inaugurate – added Menna before the ribbon cutting – to protect the Costa dei Trabocchi from building speculation and concrete flows. But there is a further challenge that I want to launch today and for which I’m already at work: connect the “Via Verde Costa dei Trabocchi” to San Salvo with a route that the Municipality of Vasto is about to build shortly, and to connect it also with the Abruzzo hinterland and with nearby Molise. I greet the president of the Province of L’Aquila who is working to achieve this other objective”.
“The next and imminent steps that we are about to take – underlined Menna – are the acquisition of the former railway stations and their pertinent areas. And I thank the regional councilors present here for this, Nicholas Campitelli e Daniele D’Amario, with whom I immediately started a comparison and a dialogue to add this other important piece. Dialogue and comparison, a sign that when you work for a single and unitary goal, the results are achieved without parochialism or political affiliations”.
A further commitment, for the definitive completion of the public work, will then have to concern the construction of the missing sections of Lake Dragoni in the Municipality of Torino di Sangrofrom the variant of Vasto (Punta Penna area) and that nethe Municipality of Casalbordinowith a loan of around 9 million euros,
Campitelli and D’Amario, for their part, they reiterated “today’s historic day. A forward-looking project born in 2007, a dream come true, a jewel that we deliver to the communities together today. We are ready to achieve other great goals, such as connecting with hinterland communities. Today – they concluded – we can all be proud of this moment fruit of good politics and unity of purpose“.
In his speech, the president of the Province also thanked all the employees of the institution “who in recent years have diligently followed and implemented all the steps necessary to reach this important moment”, with a special thought addressed to the late architect of the Province, Valerio Andrea Ursini“to whom we owe the care of the design process that led to the creation of the Via Verde” and to whom a commemorative moment was dedicated in the presence of his wife, Alessia DiProspero and of his sister Valeria who issued a warning: “Take care of it”.
Then followed the unveiling of a dedicated plaque engraved with “In memory of the Arch. Valerio Andrea Ursini who with dedication and competent professionalism, started and contributed to the creation of the “Via Verde Costa de Trabocchi”.
“Now the next appointment is the “Great Departure” of the 106th Giro d’Italia scheduled for May 6 with the time trial “Costa dei Trabocchi” Fossacesia-Ortona. It will be a great moment of promotion for our province and for Abruzzo”, concluded Menna who thanked the partners who collaborated in the organization of the inauguration: Gal Costa dei Trabocchi, Unpli Chieti, the Cycling Federation Abruzzo, Art Bike & Run, Your Abruzzo and the girls and boys of the De Sterlich of Chieti, Galilei, Vittorio Emanuele II and Palizzi of Lanciano, and Pantini-Pudente of Vasto, protagonists of the project ” Muri Parlanti” and who created the two murals: “Dal Primo all’Ultimo” in Punta Mucchiola and “In Eterno Fantini”, dedicated to the unforgettable Frentano cycling champion Alessandro Fantini. The nephews of Fantini, Alessandro and Roberto, were present this morning.
The inaugural ceremony concluded with the “pink” cycling in the section between Ortona and Torino di Sangro.