Special Environmental Projects

The Molgora Stream and the Villoresi Canal are elements of landscape value within a territory strongly characterised by major road networks (A4 “Torino-Trieste” and SP 13 “Monza-Melzo”). The local park of supra-municipal interest (PLIS) of the Molgora develops longitudinally in this stretch around protected waterways, along which thin and fragmented wooded strips can be identified.

The southernmost part of the park, in the territory of Caponago (practically as far as the SP 13 “Monza-Melzo” that borders the built-up area to the south), is basically reduced to the wooded banks of the stream, with the exception of two areas to the north and an area to the left of the Molgora in the heart of a new residential area. To the south of SP 39, the park’s territory takes on a very different consistency, extending to a large agricultural area that flanks the Villoresi Canal partly to the north and mostly to the south.

The Special Environmental Project carried out in the area by Tangenziale Esterna derives from the road adaptation of the section of the SP 13 “Monza-Melzo” between Caponago and Pessano con Bornago. This led to the possibility of increasing the wooded areas protecting the stream through the forestation of areas of the old roadway and areas bordering the stream itself. The project extends to the construction of a new bicycle and pedestrian link between the two Municipalities through an overpass on the SP 13 “Monza-Melzo”.

Along the Villoresi, a section of bicycle/pedestrian path was also built from Cascina Canepa to the SP 13 “Monza-Melzo”, which connects to the path between Pessano con Bornago and the Adda. Finally, a large area was set aside for public green space, for inter-municipal use, which constitutes a sort of gateway to the Molgora PLIS.

The project was carried out on the north bank of the Naviglio Martesana, along the section joining the Municipalities of Gessate, Gorgonzola and Bellinzago Lombardo. More specifically, the Special Environmental Project concerns the area between the Naviglio itself and the new section of the SP 11 “Padana Superiore”.

The most important landscape element of the project is the Martesana and the agricultural territory between the above Municipalities. The project involved the landscaping and development of a strip of green land of about 1.1 kilometres that borders the Naviglio to the north.

The project was made possible by the setback (foreseen in the TEEM project) of the SP 11 “Padana Superiore” by about 20 metres from the previous bank of the Naviglio. The area freed from the road system, in addition to allowing the landscape redevelopment on the bank of the Martesana, made it possible to create a protected pedestrian link between Gorgonzola and Bellinzago. The project also created the territorial continuity of an inter-municipal green system.

The areas have been equipped with sound-proof mounds in the direction of the road, tree rows parallel to the river and shrub belts serving the small rest areas to the south with a “view” over the Martesana and the agricultural areas of Bellinzago.

The intervention covered both the Lodigiano territory (Municipalities of Comazzo, including the town of Lavagna, and Merlino) and the Milan territory (Municipalities of Paullo and Settala). It covers a large area dominated by the presence of the Muzza Canal, numerous springs and minor waterways as well as a series of important buildings, including the Rossate complex (in the territory of Comazzo), characterised by the presence of Cascina Castello (17th century) and the 16th-century Oratory of San Biagio. This place of worship, known to the people of Lodi and Lombardy art enthusiasts both for its Bramante-esque architectural structure set in an agricultural context and for the wooden Crucifix that has been venerated for centuries, underwent a conservative restoration financed (1.3 million euros) by Tangenziale Esterna S.p.A.

The project, drawn up on behalf of the owners (the Curia of Lodi, diocese), was approved by the Superintendency of Architectural and Landscape Heritage of Milan. The aim of the intervention was to protect the Oratory of San Biagio from degradation and to return it to the local community even as a location for cultural events.

In the area of the church, punctuated by the presence of villas, farmsteads and towns of historical interest, green works have been carried out to enhance the ebb and flow of the local landscape, such as the system of historical farm connections, the vegetation of rural hedges and the network of surface waterways. The construction of new cycle paths (over nine kilometres), connected to existing paths (some of which have been restored), has favoured the tourist and cultural enjoyment of the area, placing the Oratory of San Biagio at the centre of itineraries favoured by the creation of a new “soft mobility” system.

The project involved the territories of Mulazzano, Dresano and Casalmaiocco. This is an agricultural area, with the exception of the southern limit where the tunnel entrance of the Tangenziale Est Esterna di Milano corresponds to the boundary of the town of Cologno in Casalmaiocco and Dresano (Villaggio Ambrosiano). The landscape is characteristic of the Milan area irrigated plain, with intensive farming dating back to the first land reclamation in the Middle Ages. Agrarian landscaping, the network of irrigation canals, hedges and rows of vines stand alongside the most valuable natural elements. Among its environmental resources, water is the most significant. There are historic waterways, including the Vettabbia and the Ticinello, and numerous active springs that create ecosystems of considerable environmental interest.

The Special Environmental Project focused on two distinct areas with different objectives. In the area parallel to Cavo Marocco, between Cascine Virolo and Belpensiero, the relocation of the motorway axis envisaged in the Preliminary Project allowed the preservation of a long stretch of the existing Cavo riverbed through the creation of a system of protective zones between the motorway edge and the existing riparian vegetation.

In order not to subtract further valuable land for agriculture from area, it was decided to adopt naturalistic engineering measures for the reconnection of the hydrographic network and the planting of new forests.

As for the second area, on the other hand, under the Cologno di Casalmaiocco artificial tunnel, the aim was to reconnect, through the creation of an urban fringe park, the Villaggio Ambrosiano in Dresano to Cologno.

The project has an abundance of plant life arranged on curved lines that, while mitigating the direct view of the related work, maintains the visual relationships between the two points.

This solution will allow during subsequent project developments to transform the area from an area of exclusive agricultural use to a green area for public enjoyment.

The “Lambro-Melegnano” Special Environmental Project involved the Municipalities of Melegnano, Cerro al Lambro and Vizzolo Predabissi. The heavily urbanised area sees the presence of major road and rail links (first and foremost, the A1 Milano-Napoli motorway and the Milano-Bologna railway), and is crossed by the River Lambro, with its numerous bends.

In this area, Tangenziale Esterna undertook the largest “green” intervention envisaged by the A58-TEEM Project, thanks to the creation of about 13 hectares of new natural areas, mainly west of the former Vizzolo Predabissi landfill.

On the sustainable mobility front, the SEP saw the creation of six kilometres of new bicycle/pedestrian paths, specifically involving the Melegnano-Riozzo, Riozzo-Cerro al Lambro, Vizzolo Predabissi SS 9 “Via Emilia”-Cascina Legorina, Cascina Legorina-Ceregallo (San Zenone al Lambro) and Ceregallo (San Zenone al Lambro)-Cerro al Lambro stretches. The network allows the connection between Melegnano-Cerro al Lambro with the SS 9 “Via Emilia”.

This Special Environmental Project mainly affects the area north of the town of Melegnano, at the point where the SS 9 “Via Emilia” meets the Municipality. The aim of the project was to strengthen the woodland belts protecting the two waterways present and, equally, to implement shrubbery to mitigate the impact between the connected infrastructure (the connection between the SP 40 “Binaschina” and the SP 39 “Cerca” planned for this area) and the built-up area.

The Municipalities of San Giuliano Milanese and Colturano were also partially affected. The area of the project was previously destined for agricultural use and borders the historical monumental complex of the Cascina Rocca Brivio (Municipality of San Giuliano Milanese) to the north and the town of Melegnano directly to the south.

In the stretch where the Municipality of Milan’s metropolitan belt ends and the Cavo Redefossi flows into the Cavo Vettabbia, somewhat south of the River Lambro, the redevelopment (about 2.7 kilometres) of the bicycle and pedestrian paths between Rocca Brivio, Melegnano Nord and the Sarmazzano district, east of the River Lambro, has been carried out, where paving and green works accompanying the paths have been implemented.

Water is the element that ties together the works carried out as part of the “Muzza-Villambrera” Special Environmental Project. In fact, the SEP saw the creation of a new bicycle and pedestrian route connecting various points of natural and recreational interest in the territories of the Municipalities of Paullo and Zelo Buon Persico.

The new routes make it possible, starting from the centre of Paullo, to use sustainable mobility to reach Cascina Villambrera, the natural oases in wetlands along the Muzza, the hydroelectric power station’s lake between Zelo Buon Persico and Muzzano and Villa Pompeiana, where the entries to the Site of Community Importance (SCI) “Oasi Bosco del Mortone”, the SCI “Oasi Garzaia del Mortone” and a portion of the Adda Sud Park are located.

Both the territory of Pozzuolo Martesana and the Parco Locale Alto Martesana of supra-municipal interest (PLIS) are bordered longitudinally by the Tangenziale Est Esterna di Milano motorway. The project dedicated to this area consisted in the planting of large trees along two large areas, of about two hectares, to buffer the long portion that runs between the commercial subdivision planned by the PGT, south of the Pozzuolo junction, and the stretch of the TEEM that reaches this area.

The elements that characterise the middle irrigated plain and the spring points are the numerous source and stem points that form a dense hydrographic network with a predominantly north-south direction. The Pozzuolo Martesana junction on the SP 103 “Cassanese” also runs through the same area.

Additional renaturalisation work was also carried out in the areas between the Roggia Visconti, Torrente Trobbia and Fontanile Cornice (1.5 kilometres). This environmental integration is part of a larger forestation project.

Lastly, a system for bicycles was implemented in connection with the project of the new overpass to the Milano-Venezia railway network.

The image that comes to mind today from the agricultural landscapes of the Milan area is the result of centuries of human intervention in the environment, carried out to regulate water management, to readjust production spaces to new cultivation techniques, or to define property and/or administrative boundaries.

This important work of anthropisation of the territory is accompanied and overlapped by the cultural need to bring back to the territory some of its original features, which today have historical and environmental value.

In fact, these territories are gradually reconfiguring themselves as the destination of an emerging set of practices ranging from a simple walk outside to the purchase of “zero-kilometre” agricultural products from local farmsteads.

For these reasons, the Concessionaire Tangenziale Esterna S.p.A. directed part of the environmental mitigation and compensation measures to a wide-ranging landscape recomposition of the entire area affected by the new infrastructure. This was done through the extensive planting of typical species from the ancient lowland forest, such as the English oak. This took place along the junctions of the existing and newly implemented bicycle and pedestrian network.

The operation consisted in reinforcing a return to the origins of the territories crossed, counteracting the progressive “trivialisation” affecting significant portions of the agricultural landscape, by inserting elements typical of a state prior not only to the construction of the Tangenziale Est Esterna di Milano but of all the anthropic processes that have taken place in the Metropolitan Area.