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Good practice Imported

Strade Aperte — Milan's Pandemic-Era Pop-Up Cycle Lane Programme

Italy · Milan · See the Italy profile · See the Milan profile

Evidence: Observational / pre–post Top 50% 67/100 · Ask Evidence Copilot about this practice

Milan converted up to 35km of car lanes into low-cost pop-up cycle lanes and wider pavements as COVID-19 cut car traffic ~75%. An NGO census found up to 77% more cyclists on key corridors within months, though several stretches were later removed after parking disputes.

~75 %
Car traffic reduction during lockdown (spring 2020)
up to 35 km
Road space reallocated
~3,000 submissions
Citizen submissions requesting street changes, Apr 2020 (April 2020)
3,241 / 5,744 passages (+77%)
Cyclist passages, Corso Venezia/Via Senato, 2019 vs 2020 (2019-2020)
4,621 / 7,077 passages (+53%)
Cyclist passages, Corso Venezia/Planetario, 2017 vs 2020 (2017-2020)

Details

Promoter
Comune di Milano (City of Milan)
Period
2020–2021
Keywords
tactical urbanism, active mobility, air quality, cycling infrastructure

Context

As Italy's national COVID-19 lockdown cut Milan's car traffic by roughly 75% in spring 2020 and visibly reduced air pollution, the City of Milan launched the Strade Aperte ('Open Streets') plan in April 2020, led by Mayor Giuseppe Sala and mobility deputy mayor Marco Granelli.

Activities

The plan used low-cost paint, signage and bollards to reallocate up to 35 kilometres of road space from cars to cyclists and pedestrians, alongside wider pavements and new 30 km/h zones. By 30 April 2020, 18 construction sites were already under way, fed by nearly 3,000 citizen submissions requesting specific street changes.

Results

FIAB Milano Ciclobby's volunteer 12-hour weekday census on 16 September 2020 found passages at Corso Venezia/Via Senato rose from 3,241 (2019) to 5,744 (2020), a 77% increase, and at Corso Venezia/Planetario from 4,621 (2017) to 7,077 (2020), up 53%.

Conclusions

The plan drew sustained opposition from merchants and residents over lost parking and narrowed traffic lanes, particularly along Corso Buenos Aires; some short pop-up sections were subsequently removed or redesigned after these disputes, though it remains one of the most widely referenced examples of pandemic-era tactical urbanism internationally.

Implementation
Indicative cost
Low (< €50k)
Time to results
Short (< 1 year)
Staffing & skills
Comune di Milano (City of Milan)

Conditions for success

  • Low-cost paint/signage/bollard tactical-urbanism approach rather than full construction
  • Routing informed by nearly 3,000 citizen submissions

Common failure modes

  • Sustained opposition from merchants and residents over lost parking led to removal or redesign of several pop-up sections
  • No independent municipal audit beyond the volunteer NGO census

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Data sources

Where this practice's information was retrieved from, and when.

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