Luxottica participates in the Provincia-Veneto Strade technical table for the creation of wildlife corridors to avoid traffic accidents. On Sr 203, in fact, a month ago Alessandro Tabaku, a 22-year-old worker at the Luxottica di Agordo had died to avoid a deer.
Luxottica has therefore proved to be sensitive to the problem of road safety on one of the most important arteries not only for the industrial center of Agordo, but for the entire province
By 2024, three wildlife corridors will be built on the roads in the province of Belluno. Two on Sr203 Agordina, one on Sp1 bis, in Sinistra Piave. This is the outcome of the update of the Provincia-Veneto Strade technical table held on 29 November in the Palazzo Piloni headquarters, a week after the last meeting.
THE NUMBERS
It is the daily traffic data that defines the importance of the Sr203 Agordina. Every day, 2,450 Luxottica workers use the road to reach the plant in Valcozzena: 19 buses and hundreds of private cars make the Sedico-Agordo route and vice versa. Not counting the other users of the regional road and the tourists who travel it on weekends in the winter and summer seasons.
THE SOLUTION
For all these users, one of the risks is represented by the crossing of ungulates (in recent days there have been several movements of groups of deer, between Peron and Candaten). “The only system capable of making stretches of road safe is that of wildlife corridors,” explains the provincial councilor responsible for hunting and fishing, Franco De Bon. «Underpasses or overpasses which allow animals to follow their routes to food and water, without crossing the roadway. There is one on the Sp1 a few hundred meters from the entrance to Belluno, and since it has been active we have no longer recorded any incidents with wildlife in that stretch”.
The wildlife corridors have been identified as a viable solution by the technical table. And the methods of intervention have already been defined. Veneto Strade will build two corridors on the Agordina, in conjunction with the enlargements of the roadway planned as part of the works on the Sr203, financed with regional funds. “Some adjustments to the roadway are planned,” explains engineer Michele Artusato, operations director of Veneto Roads for the Belluno sector. “Along with these, it is also feasible to build two underpasses for wildlife. We will have to carry out further investigations of a hydraulic nature, given the proximity of the Cordevole course. I assume that work can begin as early as next spring.”
In addition to the Sr203, the Province and Veneto Strade are also building a third corridor, on the Sp1 bis, in Sinistra Piave. «After studying the updated maps with the most sensitive points with respect to the presence of ungulates, the area of Lentiai-Quero-Vas» underlines the managing director Franco De Bon. «With Veneto Strade we thought of an experimental work, a more functional overpass for crossing deer and roe deer, even if more expensive». In this case, Veneto Strade sets a rough time schedule with planning for next spring, authorization process by the autumn and work starting at the beginning of 2024.
“The safety of road users is the priority” comments the managing director for infrastructures, Fabio Luchetta. «The data recorded by our offices speak of one incident per day in the province with wildlife. The realization of these works therefore becomes fundamental both for motorists and for animals ».