P2 (Market Square)

Italiano

The largest car park near the town center is located under Via Roma, house numbers 42 and 44, hundred meters away from Piazza Garibaldi, with a capacity of over 100 vehicles, on a slight slope.[^][^] Here it is held the traditional Friday market of Barzio. The parking has been around for a long time,[^] since 2011 it is paid; Via Roma was traced in 1930. Currently, you pay from 08.00 to 20.00, Saturdays and holidays all year round, every day in July and August, just as you pay for parking every day from December 1st to March 31st; beyond 6 hours of parking the rate does not increase. However, the first part of the car park from July 2021 is a one-hour parking disc from 8 in the morning to 8 in the evening, with white stripes, as well as having four spaces reserved for the disabled. In addition, there are stalls for residents only and authorized with mark, recognizable by yellow stripes. The car park is connected to another, free and of the same size, located at a lower ground level; a barrier is between the two parking lots, which is left open.

You pay for parking with cash or credit card at the parking meter located at the entrance, near a yellow tower, where the regulations and cost are on a Municipality of Barzio sign; no change is dispensed. The sign is titled Parcheggio di Piazza Mercato, in English Square Market Parking. The alternative payment method is digital, via application, EasyPark or MoneyGo, or with Telepass.

The parking is poorly maintained, the bottom is uneven with lifting near the trees. The direction of travel in white paint and the blue stripes of the spaces have been redesigned following the recent partial renovation of the car park.

Name

What is the name of the Barzio car park under Via Roma where the Friday market is held? One name is Piazza Mercato Parking, as mentioned above. However, the parking lots in Barzio have been numbered to make it easier for foreigners to find them, especially for the many tourists who go to Piani di Bobbio.

Going up to the village from Via Milano, at the intersection with Via Provinciale, you will find the road sign that I consider most significant, which indicates the disposition of the five numbered car parks. According to this sign, the parking is P2 (Piazza Mercato), in English P2 (Market Square), and the one next to it and further down is P3 (Tensile structure). We deduce that this parking lot can be called P2 or also, as P stands for parking, Parking 2. On advertising posters it is not uncommon to find Parking in front of P2.
For Google Maps, P2 is Parcheggio di Via Roma (Via Roma car park),[^] in OpenStreetMap the proper name is the same, P2.[^]

The two access ramps and the first part of the parking

The car park is accessed via a short but steep one-way descent, between Pasticceria Passoni and the two-story municipal building in Via Roma 42 and 44. The exit is uphill one way from the other side of the building.[^] In the basement of this building, on the side towards P2, there are a number of rooms,[^] including a warehouse of the municipality, those hosting the "Santa Cecilia" band of Barzio,[^] a medical clinic, with a study of a family physician and one of the summer medical services.

The first part of Parcheggio 2 (Piazza Mercato), from July 2021, following the restructuring of the mayor Giovanni Arrigoni Battaia, is free, for 1 hour disc parking from 08.00 to 20.00, with white stripes.[^]. There are fourteen parking spaces, in addition to four places for the disabled[^] and one reserved for staff on duty at the medical. A plane tree and lime trees make shade. Previously, this space was reserved for authorized vehicles with a badge,[^] which have been moved to the lower right half hidden.[^] From the old arrangement, some places remain here on the right along a gray railing of a private property, marked from A to F. A no parking sign warns that there is forced removal on Friday from 6 am to 3 pm on the whole square for the market.[^] In addition, this part acts as a passage to the exit ramp, even during market day.

The old sign of the City of Barzio and the parking meter at the little tower

The car parking for a fee is lower than the first part, at the entrance there is a road sign Ticket, where there is an old and still functioning little tower by Enel, which has a metal door and a window.[^] On a tube attached to this building is a sign of the Municipality of Barzio, with the regulation and parking rates, which are extremely cheap. Beside, there is the parking meter, which delivers the ticket to be exposed on the car.
The text of the sign is as follows, translated in English (July was covered with a black stripe):[^]

Comune di Barzio
PARKING OF PIAZZA MERCATO
From April 01 to November 30 paid parking from 08.00 to 20.00 on the following days: Saturday, Sunday and holidays.
From July 1 to August 31 daily paid parking from 08.00 to 20.00.
TARIFFS
€ 0.50 up to 1 hour of parking
€ 1.50 up to 2 hours of parking
€ 2.00 up to 3 hours of parking
€ 3.00 up to 4 hours of parking
€ 4.00 up to 5 hours of parking
€ 5.00 up to 6 hours of parking
over 6 hours of parking € 6.00
It works with coins of:
€ 0.05 € 0.10 € 0.20 € 0.50 € 1.00 € 2.00
ATTENTION, THE PARK METER DOES NOT GIVE THE CHANGE
In case of necessity call the following number: 335 7615399
It is strictly forbidden to park in a different way than that prescribed by horizontal signage.
Violators will be subject to sanctions pursuant to art. 157 paragraph 5 of cds
Expose the ticket clearly on the dashboard inside the car

This sign refers to the non-winter season. Probably, another one is exhibited from December to March.

Unique sign for all seasons and payment via smartphone

In 2023, the cost of parking for up to 1 hour was increased to €1.00 and payment was restored every day in July. The new sign indicates the regulation both for the non-winter season and for the winter one, 1 December - 31 March, during which you pay every day. A significant new feature is that parking can be paid for without cash or credit card via mobile phone with the two applications EasyPark[^] and MooneyGo[^], which are added to the already active Telepass. Those who are familiar with this technology have the advantage that they no longer have to look for the nearest parking meter, nor display the traditional paper ticket, and extend their stay without having to return to the car.[^]

I copy the information from the sign, which is not arranged in the best way.[^]

Comune di Barzio
PARKING OF PIAZZA MERCATO
PAYMENT PARKING
SATURDAY, SUNDAY AND HOLIDAYS ALWAYS
FROM 08.00 TO 20.00

EVERYDAY

From July 1st to August 31st every day
From April 1st to June 30th and from September 1st to November 30th: Saturday and holidays
€ 1.00 up to 1 hour of parking
€ 1.50 up to 2 hours of parking
€ 2.00 up to 3 hours of parking
€ 3.00 up to 4 hours of parking
€ 4.00 up to 5 hours of parking
€ 5.00 up to 6 hours of parking
€ 6.00 over 6 hours of parking

From December 1st to March 31st every day
€ 1.00 up to 1 hour of parking
€ 1.50 up to 2 hours of parking
€ 2.00 up to 3 hours of parking
€ 5.00 up to 4 hours of parking
€ 10.00 up to 5 hours of parking
€ 15.00 up to 6 hours of parking
over 6 hours of parking € 20.00

ATTENTION, THE PARK METER DOES NOT GIVE THE CHANGE

It is strictly forbidden to park in a different way than that prescribed by horizontal signage.
Violators will be subject to sanctions pursuant to art. 157 paragraph 5 of cds
Expose the ticket clearly on the dashboard inside the car

The Municipality of Barzio warns that the parking in Piazza Mercato is always paid on Saturdays and holidays, redundantly on Sundays and holidays, as if people did not know that Sunday is a holiday. To find out the rates, however, you must read the complete regulation under Everyday, which specifies in which period, the other days (Monday to Friday), are subject to charges. The paid timetable is always 12 hours, from 8 in the morning to 8 in the evening, even if this information remains above Tutti Giorni. The rows do not comply with the header of the columns, Periodi and Tariffe (Periods and Rates). The sign is wrong because it informs you to always display the ticket on the dashboard, even for applications that do not issue it.

It should also be noted that, one, the rates beyond 3 hours of parking are much more expensive in winter. This is because the municipality takes advantage of the need for parking for many hours of tourists who love the snow up at Piani di Bobbio, or this maneuver is intended to discourage long-term parking. Two, for any period of the year, beyond 6 hours of parking, the cost for the motorist does not increase based on the length of stay.

Parking with blue and yellow lines

The Parking 2 of Barzio widens after the yellow turret by Enel, on the asphalt some white arrows indicate the direction of travel, which is slightly downhill. To get out, vehicles have to drive through the parking lot, about 50 meters, and go up it. The parking spaces of this part of the parking lot, public and for a fee, are delimited by blue stripes, in a perpendicular direction to the main direction of travel, apart from the latter at the bottom. There are numerous trees of a certain size, mostly lime trees.[^] On the right there are 27 yellow-striped places for residents and authorized persons with badge, and two equipped with a charging station for electric vehicles. The lower part of the parking lot, and to the right, is surrounded by a railing with two white horizontal bars now oxidized to protect from the inclined meadow of the Valle Fiumetta below, about ten meters deep, a natural environment[^] canceled forever in 2023 by the municipal administration led by Giovanni Arrigoni Battaia to make way for a bike track, the Pump track & skill park of Barzio.[^] From the ideal balcony, where it is easy to place your foot incorrectly because there is a sloping gap on the ground, you can see the pedestrian area along Valle Fiumetta and Fiumetta stream, the tensile structure and its playground. On the right, very close, there is the white house with three floors plus attic in Località Cesura 1, accessible by a small road as wide as a sidewalk bordering the parking lot. From it a path branches off for about ten meters, which leads to the pedestrian area in close proximity to Via Clemente Buzzoni.

From Parcheggio di Piazza Mercato, vehicles can get off at Parking 3 because the barrier that divides them remains raised; crossing the two car parks thus becomes a passage between Via Roma and Via Provinciale, and vice versa; from 2020, there is even an arrow pointing to Lecco towards P3,[^] as well as another at the end of the parking lot. Those who walk can go from one parking lot to another next to the barrier, even if it is closed, or along wooden steps on a small sloping lawn.[^]

State of parking and use

Barzio's Parking 2 or P2 or Market Parking is poorly preserved, its conversion to toll parking was not supported by investment in urban furniture and flooring, and ordinary maintenance is not done. The information is lacking, if not contradictory, there is no street sign with the name.
The asphalt of the parking is poor, rough and uneven,[^] there are bumps at the trees.[^] The signage on the asphalt, at least that one, has been redone after years. Parking spaces are not tiled and no space between one and the other, the slope of the parking lot is not adequately controlled. Paradoxically, although the free parking spaces P3, P4 and P5 are better maintained and modern.

The paid parking lot in the high season for Barzio fills up on winter weekends when it has snowed or there is a lot of snow on the Piani di Bobbio, when there is no longer a free parking space in the village,[^] and a few days in August. In fact, it is natural that motorists prefer the free parking below. P2, assuming that in 2021 it is still called that, is sometimes empty even on days when it is free because the tourist is not aware that there is no payment. On the other hand, the recently created parking spaces with parking discs are very used, because it is convenient to find free parking for a short stop very close to the shops.

Conclusion

The large area of Square Market Parking is extremely functional and versatile for the town of Valsassina pleasantly situated in front of the Northern Grigna. A few years ago, as in many places, the parking in the center became a fee. This solution allows tourists to find parking, and with an hourly rate that is really low, one euro per hour. However, the Municipality of Barzio[^] badly manages the large parking lot near the center, which for many is the place of the first impact with the country, which has one of its main resources in proximity tourism. The money available to the municipality is scarce. For many years, furniture and flooring have been left to go, without any control of the payment of the tariff.

Numbered parkings of Barzio

Barzio needs thousands of parking spaces due to the large number of skiers and tourists heading to the Piani di Bobbio on weekends and winter holidays.[^] Five parking areas have been numbered, P1, P2, P3, P4 and P5. Consequently, each car park is associated with a binomial, its natural position, known by those who already frequent the town, and the number. To identify it, one can favor one or the other form, or highlight both. The use of the numbering of the parking lots was put asideby the latest municipal administrations.

At the entrance to the town coming from the valley where Pasturo is located, in Via Provinciale at the intersection with Via Milano, a large sign with a blue background informs about the five parking lots, P1 and P2 on the left, P3, P4 and P5 straight following the half-curve. For each parking there is the type, paid or free, and two light signals operating in the winter season, one green and one red, that is, free or complete:

• P1 Cable car for a fee. It is the large car park at the departure of Barzio - Piani di Bobbio cable car, in La Piazza locality.
• P2 Market square for a fee.
• P3 Tensile Structure free.
• P4 Sports Hall free. It is in Provincial Street, near to Conca Rossa locality.
• P5 Cinema free. It is in Via Roma in front of the old cinema.

Under the parking lots P2, P3, P4 and P5 you can read Transfer by shuttle on holidays, implying transfer to the departure of the Barzio - Piani di Bobbio cable car. It is also true that, the bus for the cable car that circulates in the country for hikers, tourists and skiers is also available on Saturdays.

In Via Martiri Patrioti Barziesi, at the crossroads of the Via Milano roundabout, there are three direction road signs: P1 (blue background, payment), P2 (orange background, free) and P3 (green background, free). Under P2 and P3, Shuttle Bus on Holidays and Days before Holidays.[^] The signs are therefore prior to 2011, when P2 became payment.

References

1. Mauro Vezzoli (5 June 2005- ). "P2 (Piazza Mercato)". [Google Photos album]. Retrieved 26 August 2017.
2. Mauro Vezzoli. "P2 (Piazza Mercato)". [Flickr album]. Retrieved 26 August 2017.
3. Mauro Vezzoli (10 August 2009). "Cars get off at the free parking lot which is mostly full. Also this year, do not miss a trip to Barzio. We don't go on vacation, but in August we travel to the mountains and the cool, leaving Milan for a day. Traveling without traffic is really nice.". In Estate and P2 (Piazza Mercato). [Google Photos photo]. Retrieved 26 August 2017.
4. "Parcheggio di Via Roma". Google Maps. Retrieved 26 August 2017.
5. "map=18/45.94441/9.46774". OpenStreetMap. Retrieved 26 August 2017.
6. Mauro Vezzoli (14 January 2013). "A glimpse of the municipal building of Via Roma and the parking exit ramp.". In Inverno and P2 (Piazza Mercato). [Google Photos photo]. Retrieved 26 August 2017.
7. Mauro Vezzoli (3 August 2014). "The exit from P2 with the entire facade of the building in Via Roma 42-44. I photograph, in this rainy summer that I spend as is now customary in Barzio with my parents, with my Samsung GT-I9300 mobile phone.". In In giro per Barzio and P2 (Piazza Mercato). [Flickr photo]. Retrieved 26 August 2017.
8. "Corpo Musicale Santa Cecilia di Barzio". bandabarzio.it (In Italian). Retrieved 26 August 2017.
9. Mauro Vezzoli (24 August 2021). "The first part of P2 (Piazza Mercato) has become a 1 hour parking disc, from 08.00 to 20.00, an area bordered by white stripes. You can also park on Friday, the market day. Previously, the spaces were in yellow stripes reserved for authorized vehicles.". In Estate, In giro per Barzio and P2 (Piazza Mercato). [Google Photos photo]. Retrieved 24 August 2021.
10. Mauro Vezzoli (24 August 2021). "Four disabled spaces at the beginning of the car park and the exit lane that runs alongside the municipal building. Before the renovation, the car spaces were 2.". In Estate and P2 (Piazza Mercato). [Google Photos photo]. Retrieved 24 August 2021.
11. Mauro Vezzoli (21 June 2015). "The yellow numbered spaces 15 and 14 for authorized vehicles with a badge at the beginning of Parking 2.". In In giro per Barzio and P2 (Piazza Mercato). [Flickr photo]. Retrieved 26 August 2017.
12. Mauro Vezzoli (24 August 2021). "In July 2021, the municipal administration of Barzio of the mayor Giovanni Arrigoni Battaia, moved the parking spaces in Piazza Mercato for residents and authorized persons with a badge inside the paid parking lot, i.e. in the lower part, on the right.". In Estate and P2 (Piazza Mercato). [Google Photos photo]. Retrieved 24 August 2021.
13. Mauro Vezzoli (21 July 2016). "Summer 2016 also begins with a photo of P2 and its no parking sign on Friday 6.00-15.00 on the whole market square!". In In giro per Barzio. [Foto di Facebook]. Retrieved 26 August 2017.
14. Mauro Vezzoli (27 June 2013). "The old ocher colored ENEL turret, which precedes the parking cash desk.". In Estate and P2 (Piazza Mercato). [Google Photos photo]. Retrieved 26 August 2017.
15. Mauro Vezzoli (24 August 2021). "Returning to Barzio after two months, the changes to the Piazza Mercato car park made at the beginning of July 2021 force me to rewrite my piece P2 (Piazza Mercato) on Blogger. As in the summer of 2015, I photograph the parking meter and the sign with the rates, in which July was canceled, because the parking near the town center is paid every day only in August.". In Estate, In giro per Barzio and P2 (Piazza Mercato). [Google Photos photo]. Retrieved 24 August 2021.
16. Easy Park". easypark.com. Retrieved 19 July 2023.
17. "MooneyGo". mooneygo.it. Retrieved 19 July 2023.
18. Redazione (7 April 2023). "Barzio più digitale: il parcheggio si paga con EasyPark e MooneyGo [Barzio more digital: parking is paid with EasyPark and MooneyGo]". (in Italian). Lecco Today. Retrieved 19 July 2023.
19. Mauro Vezzoli (19 July 2023). "July 2023, new Parking sign in Piazza Mercato, with rates for both the non-winter and winter seasons. The first hour of parking costs €1.00, from 1 December to 31 March parking for more than three hours costs much more. You can pay for parking without cash or credit card with the EasyPark and Mooneygo applications, as well as Telepass, where you save money by paying only for the actual parking minutes.". In Estate, In giro per Barzio and P2 (Piazza Mercato). [Google Photos photo]. Retrieved 19 July 2023.
20. Mauro Vezzoli (27 June 2013). "The lime trees that shade the cars in P2.". In Estate and P2 (Piazza Mercato). [Google Photos photo]. Retrieved 26 August 2017.
21. Mauro Vezzoli (21 June 2015). "Fiumetta Valley with the pedestrian path and the tensile structure from the P2 car park.". In In giro per Barzio. [Facebook photo]. Retrieved 26 August 2017.
22. Mauro Vezzoli (9 August 2023). "Bike trail from the parking lot where the market is held. Parents observe the sun on the benches, two boys clean the track, the little ones pedal because they have not yet learned to push the bike with their bodies.". In Estate, P2 (Piazza Mercato), Pump track & Skill park di Barzio and Tensostruttura di Barzio. [Google Photos photo]. Retrieved 9 August 2023.
23. Mauro Vezzoli (4 August 2022). "From Car Park 2 you go towards Lecco passing through Car Park 3, there is even a road sign.". In Estate, P2 (Piazza Mercato) and P3 (Tensostruttura). [Google Photos photo]. Retrieved 31 August 2017.
24. Mauro Vezzoli (31 August 2017). "Among the branches of a tree, the short and improvised passage downhill with wooden steps between P2 and P3.". In Estate and P2 (Piazza Mercato). [Google Photos photo]. Retrieved 31 August 2017.
25. Mauro Vezzoli (21 June 2015). "Bumpy asphalt in correspondence of the places delimited by the blue stripes.". In Estate and P2 (Piazza Mercato). [Google Photos photo]. Retrieved 26 August 2017.
26. Mauro Vezzoli (20 August 2016). "The damaged asphalt and the hump around a lime tree in P2. The parking lot, 5 days after August 15th, is empty; a red Peugeot heads to the neighboring Barzio car park 3, which is free.". In P2 (Piazza Mercato). [Flickr photo]. Retrieved 26 August 2017.
27. C.C. (7 January 2020). Barzio, è di nuovo caos parcheggi. Ma non doveva mai più succedere? [Barzio, it's parking chaos again. But was it never supposed to happen again?]". (in Italian). Valsassina News. Retrieved 15 June 2021.
28. "Comune di Barzio". comune.barzio.lc.it. Retrieved 26 August 2017.
29. C.C. (17 March 2018). "Parcheggi di Barzio, Ferrari dà i numeri: “Abbiamo 3000 posti auto, ne mancano 600 per giornate di piena” [Parking in Barzio, Ferrari gives the numbers: "We have 3000 parking spaces, 600 are missing for days full"". Valsassina News. Retrieved 15 June 2021.
30. Mauro Vezzoli (11 September 2014). "The sign at corner of Via Ingegner Manzoni". In In giro per Barzio. [Google Photos photo]. Retrieved 26 August 2017.