Tar Pauses Roma's Pietralata Stadium Works

AS Roma’s plan to build a new stadium in Rome’s Pietralata district has moved back into the administrative track after the Lazio regional administrative court rejected a challenge that had halted part of the site work. The ruling, published on May 18, concerned authorization to cut 26 trees needed for archaeological surveys linked to the project. The court said the authorization issued by Rome’s environmental department was lawful and dismissed a petition brought, among others, by the Comitato popolare Monti di Pietralata. The decision lifted a pause that had stopped the cutting and related preparatory activity since late April. ### Which works were actually stopped by the court challenge? The April 21 precautionary order did not stop the stadium project as a whole, but it did suspend tree-cutting and preparatory activity in the contested area until a collegial hearing set for May 13. That pause blocked the archaeological survey work that Rome and the club need before later authorizations can proceed. Il Romanista reported that the order was issued by Roberto Politi, president of the court section handling the case. (ansa.it) RomaToday reported that the contested works began on April 13, when crews started perimeter activity and cut the first trees in the area. Residents then went to court, arguing that the cutting risked damaging habitat and lacked required landscape and environmental clearances. ### What did the judges decide on May 18? The Lazio TAR said on May 18 that there was “no illegitimacy” in the authorization granted by Rome’s Dipartimento Tutela Ambientale for the felling of 26 trees in the area where Roma wants to build the stadium, according to ANSA. (ilromanista.eu) The judges rejected the claim that the cutting had been approved without an adequate technical basis or required landscape authorization. (romatoday.it) RomaToday said the court also relied on evidence that cutting had already been suspended on parcels potentially subject to woodland protections. The ruling referred to a photographic record of trees left standing in the area under review and said that factual element was decisive. ### Why were the trees so important to the project timeline? The 26 trees were tied to archaeological soundings that are a preliminary step before full construction approvals. (ansa.it) ANSA said the cutting was considered necessary for archaeological investigations after Roma submitted its stadium proposal in 2022 and after the city declared the project to be of public interest in May 2023. (romatoday.it) Rome’s city government approved the updated technical and economic feasibility plan on March 13, 2026, confirming public interest in the project and sending it toward the regional single-authorization procedure. Il Sole 24 Ore said that process includes environmental review and a decisive conference of services, with officials aiming to start construction in early 2027. ### What is the stadium project that Roma and the city approved? (ansa.it) AS Roma submitted the original feasibility proposal to Rome on Oct. 3, 2022, for a new stadium in Pietralata under a project-financing structure, according to the city’s project page. The municipal material describes a stadium with 55,000 seats expandable to 62,000 and a 90-year surface right over city-owned land. (comune.roma.it) Rome’s February and March 2026 approvals described a broader 27-hectare scheme, including 11.6 hectares of public green space and 3.5 hectares of squares and pedestrian routes. Il Sole 24 Ore reported that the club plans to invest about 1 billion euros in the project and that the approved design provides for roughly 60,605 seats. ### Who opposed the work, and what happens next? (comune.roma.it) The Comitato popolare Monti di Pietralata was among the challengers in the case decided on May 18, ANSA said. RomaToday reported that the challengers have said they will pursue a further appeal to the Consiglio di Stato, Italy’s highest administrative court. The next milestone remains the regional authorization process tied to the project approved by the city in March. (comune.roma.it) Il Sole 24 Ore reported that the decisive conference of services is the final major administrative step before a construction start targeted for the first part of 2027, while RomaToday said city officials have linked that schedule to a broader effort to keep the stadium on track for the club’s centenary year. (ilsole24ore.com) (ansa.it)