The Cycle Route is a great loop designed to link all four Sardinian provinces, Sassari, Nuoro, Oristano and Sud Sardegna, passing through the Metropolitan City of Cagliari and 115 municipalities.
About 20 itineraries are planned, and they will touch as many as 45 areas of natural interest: 37 Natura 2000 Network sites, 3 national parks, 3 regional parks, 1 UNESCO site and 1 marine protected area.
The cycle loop will also connect the island’s main ports, airports and railway stations, with several rail and road interchange hubs.
The 19 itineraries identified so far are: Sassari-Alghero, Alghero-Porto Torres, Porto Torres-Badesi, Badesi-Santa Teresa di Gallura, Santa Teresa di Gallura-Arzachena, Arzachena-Olbia, Olbia-Siniscola, Siniscola-Dorgali, Dorgali-Tortolì, Tortolì-Villaputzu, Villaputzu-Villasimius, Villasimius-Cagliari, Cagliari-Barumini, Barumini-Oristano, Oristano-Bosa, Flussio-Macomer, Macomer-Illorai/Tirso, Illorai/Tirso-Ozieri/Chilivani, Ozieri/Chilivani-Sassari.
Regeneration of the territories; spreading the region’s tourist demand beyond the high season; tourism that is more sustainable and less impactful than it is today. These are the main aims of the ‘cycling revolution’ in Sardinian mobility.
Alongside the improvement of existing cycle paths (above all with safety features such as parapets and crash attenuators), there will be a major effort to build new routes, equipped with proper signage and frequent rest areas and cycling services.
Has anyone already been put off, thinking of the shape of the Sardinian landscape and its terrain? Don’t worry: the cycle route is designed for the ‘basic’ cycle tourist (the one who is not very fit and lacks strong legs, although a bit of training is always advisable, and indeed required, for a physical activity like this).
Across the whole route, no more than 4% has a gradient above 6%, while about 80% is below 3%. The average gradient is under 2%.
And safety (essential, all the more so as we will be on holiday and will not want any worries)?
45% of the Sardinia Cycle Route will run on dedicated cycle paths, reserved lanes or shared cycle and pedestrian paths. 46% will consist of sections shared with traffic on urban roads with moderate speeds (≤30 km/h) and on out-of-town roads with low levels of vehicle traffic (≤500 vehicles/day).
The remaining 9% will be shared with traffic on state and provincial out-of-town roads, with a maximum speed of 50 km/h.
The last topic (always a sore point): costs. As of 2021, the cost of building the Sardinia Cycle Route was €355,000,000 in total (of which €263,000,000 for works).
ARST has been appointed by the Sardinia Region as the Implementing Body for the first two functional works. The first, the Cagliari – Barumini itinerary (CS 13, 84 km), with the Cagliari – Elmas section (4 km long) and the Samassi – Barumini section (extending for 38 km), which join those to be built with European funds (POR: Elmas-Villasor) and regional funds (PRI: Villasor-Samassi), will be allocated €16,662,512.
The second work, extending for a total of 120 km, will have PNRR funds of 33,000,000 for the Barumini – Oristano (CS 14) and Oristano – Bosa (CS 15) itineraries, continuing on from the first work.
So, let’s warm up those calves. In the coming years we will see fewer cars around Sardinia, and many more sustainable two-wheelers!
