Green light to the bridge, Salvini toasts: “It will bring 100,000 jobs. Savings of 6 billion for Sicilians”

“It is a historic, definitive decision, which has been awaited for more than 50 years”. This was stated by the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Transport and Infrastructure, Matteo Salvini, at the press conference after the final vote on the Bridge Decree in the Senate, reiterating that it will be a green project, which will provide 100,000 jobs. “It is not the Messina bridge, it is the bridge of the Italians”, underlined the minister. How much will it cost? «In the Def the figure for the bridge «is around 14 billion, obviously updated studies by companies are underway».

“For Calabria and Sicily, the Bridge is compensation for damages for promises never kept,” continued Salvini. «These are real investments, not on paper, and we are talking about 28 billion between roads, highways and railways in Sicily and the same 28 billion in Calabria. It will be a social, economic and environmental revolution.” The deputy prime minister then underlined the savings in terms of CO2 emissions: “it will be a green project, not just chatter, but there will be over 100,000 tons of CO2 emissions less and a cleaner sea, not crossed by hundreds of ferries”.

Bridge over the Strait, the (updated) calculations of the Def: “There is no economic coverage”. The work costs 13.5 billion that does not exist

April 14, 2023

All the numbers from MIT
The bridge over the Strait of Messina was designed according to the scheme of the suspension bridge. The technical project to date consists of 8,000 design documents and provides for: a length of the central span of 3,300 metres; a deck width of 60.4 metres; a height of the towers of 399 meters; a height of the central waterway of 65 meters for the transit of large ships. There are 6 road lanes planned (3 for each direction including the emergency lane) and 2 railway tracks, for an infrastructure capacity of 6,000 vehicles/hour and 200 trains/day. The bridge was designed with an earthquake resistance of 7.1 on the Richter scale, with a «third generation» aerodynamic deck stable up to a wind speed of 270 km/h. Great attention was paid to the connection works: 20.3 km of road connections and 20.2 km of railway connections are foreseen in the final project. As specified by the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Infrastructure and Transport, Matteo Salvini, railway and road works worth billions of euros have already started in Calabria and Sicily to enhance the bridge over the Strait.

Investments in Sicily
Investments of approximately 15 billion euros are planned for the national road network. – Ragusa – Catania, investment of 1.5 billion euro. A long-awaited work from the territory that has a particular transport, economic and social value for eastern Sicily. – Upgrading to four lanes of the State Road 640 Strada degli Scrittori (Agrigento-Caltanissetta), with an investment of 1 billion euro. – Doubling of the carriageway on State Road 284 between Paternò and Adrano for an investment of 500 million euros. The Gela ring road is currently being awarded for an investment of 400 million euros. Design activities are underway for the Palermo ring road with connection to the A19 and A29 motorways, the Agrigento ring road, the Catania ring road and the Trapani/Mazara del Vallo/Marsala connection. – 9 lot of the Syracuse – Gela motorway, for an investment of 500 million euros.
Redevelopment of the A18, A19 and A20 motorways with safety measures and adaptation of works of art and motorway sections, for over 100 million. Investments of approximately 13 billion euros are planned for the railway network in Sicily.
New fast Palermo – Catania – Messina connection, for an investment of 11.2 billion euro. The investments will allow the development of long-distance passenger and freight rail services, in line with the structure of the Italian territory and with the connectivity needs of the southern regions. These interventions will reduce journey times and increase capacity on the Palermo-Catania section. The goal is to build 148 km of high-speed rail for passengers and goods by June 2026. – Restoration and electrification of the Palermo-Trapani line via Milo, for an investment of 280 million euros.
Augusta bypass, for an investment of 172 million euros. Interventions are also planned for the Palermo node and the Catania node, for the Palermo-Agrigento-Porto Empedocle line, for the connection with the Trapani Birgi and Fontanarossa airports, for the Caltagirone-Gela line with a total investment of around 600 million of Euro.

Investments in Calabria
Road and motorway network In the Calabria Region there are: – 1460 km of state roads. – 444 km of motorway (Salerno-Reggio Calabria) managed by Anas. An overall investment plan of 12.8 billion is envisaged in the road and motorway network managed by ANAS, of which: – 1.125 billion for scheduled maintenance. – 11.6 billion investments: priority investments include the SS106 Jonica (about 9 billion), some functional improvements of the A2 and the completion of the SS 182, the Trasversale delle Serre Railway network In Calabria the railway network is an investment plan of 34.8 billion is envisaged, of which 16 billion euros have already been financed. Among these: – 15.921 billion for the Salerno – Reggio Calabria. – 230 million for the technological upgrading of the Battipaglia and Reggio Calabria line. – 7 million for the Cannitello variant. – 60 million for the Rosarno-S line. Ferdinand.