In the region of Umbria, like the rest of Italy, the rural country roads are slowly disappearing, being transformed into asphalted city streets. The following are some of the unfortunate results:

Increase in traffic and pollution
When a gravel road is asphalted, car and lorry traffic increases. This obviously increases local air pollution and traffic noise and ruins the peaceful country setting. No one enjoys seeing and hearing escalating traffic in a tranquil country setting.

Increase in anthropization
When a country road gets asphalted, new houses and other buildings are soon to follow. Urban sprawl expands and more of the precious countryside is lost. This unchecked human expansion has to be stopped in order to prevent furher disruption of the delicate balance of nature.

Destruction of the Ecosystem
When country roads are asphalted, the natural environment is altered in many ways; that may play havoc on the delicate hydrogeologic balance of the soil and also results in the loss of natural terrain for plants and animals. This in turn can lead to the local and global extinction of many species of animals.

Aesthetical defacement of the environment
The countryside is beautiful because... it's the countryside, and not a city! A meandering country road is a thousand times more attractive and poetic than a more practical asphalted road. Those who seek the countryside do so to find something entirely different from the city. The quality of life in the countryside needs to be preserved along with the country roads.

The road that passes by our house
was scheduled to be asphalted soon. The opposition of those of us who live here has fortunately stopped this action, also thanks to the responsiveness of some technical executives working at the Comune di Todi (the City Council). The rural road is kept in good condition by the Comune. They come by after every serious rainstorm to check the condition of the road and to fill any holes, if necessary. Also, at least once a year the road supervisors bring out their equipment to maintain the road and to keep it in excellent condition.

We thank the Comune di Todi for their kind assistance!