Milan launches the most ambitious plan in Europe against pollution.
Milan does not want to go back to being the Milan it was more than two months ago. The city was one of the most polluted in Europe , and now that we know that the coronavirus affects contaminated spaces with greater virulence according to an EPHA study, the urgency for a transition to green spaces is greater.
The capital of Lombardy reduced traffic and pollution during confinement to very low levels: nitrogen dioxide decreased by 24% , compared to the previous four weeks according to the European Environment Agency (EEA).
Something that its citizens have valued very positively, **who are happy to be able to breathe cleaner air and see a clearer sky. **
The government has taken advantage of the confinement to create a green plan (one of the most ambitious in Europe at the moment), the so-called** Strade Aperte**. And, what are the challenges that have been set?
Traffic reduction is your main goal . Now that circulation has decreased between 30% and 75%, the Milan City Council proposes a plan to pedestrianize the city.
As Il Corriere della Sera stated a few weeks ago, the entry into "Phase 2" of Milan with strong measures in public transport (capacity in them will be reduced to 30% at rush hour), could reignite pollution again if people chose to travel by car.
“I think that next month in Milan, in Italy, in Europe, we will decide part of our future for the next decade. Before we were planning for 2030; now the new phase, we call it 2020 . Instead of thinking about the future, we have to think about the present," Pierfrancesco Maran, deputy mayor of Milan, said in a statement.
so the mayor beppe room stated that the project was already underway Strade Aperte to pedestrianize some 35 km of the city, now dedicated to cars. Also more spacious sidewalks will be created , low-cost bike lanes, the speed in the city will be limited to 30 km/h, and above all, in historical places.
Construction could start in early May. in an 8 kilometer section of Corso Buenos Aires street , with a new bike lane and wider sidewalks. The rest will be completed by the end of summer.
“We have been working for years to reduce car use. If everyone drives there is no room for people, there is no room to move, there is no room for commercial activities outside the stores... Of course we want to reopen the economy, but we think we should do it in a different way than before ”, the deputy mayor of Milan Marco Granelli said in a statement.