The eternal return of Bridge over the Strait of Messina. As in every Italian government in the last 30 years, even in Conte 2 we are starting to talk again about the infrastructure that should connect Calabria and Sicily. But this time there's something new: the Strait Bridge could become a Strait Tunnel. A bit like the one that unites France and England across the Channel.
The project of the new connection between the two regions of the South (on which they have also recently returned to express themselves the industrial organizations of Sicily and Calabria) fits into the master plan for the completion of the high-speed rail network, which today crosses Italy only from Milan to Naples. There are two sections to build: Salerno-Reggio Calabria e Catania-Messina-Palermo, relaunched by the major works plan drafted by the Simplification Decree. Inevitable, therefore, that the debate on the Calabrian-Sicilian infrastructure would also become topical again.
According to reports from Il Sole 24 Ore, shortly (if it hasn't already happened during the CDM that approved the Simplification decree) the Prime Minister, Giuseppe Conte, and the Minister of Infrastructure, Paola De Micheli, they will give the green light to a new feasibility project technical-economic (as well as environmental) to compare the various possible solutions for crossing the Strait. It will then go from old single span bridge project of the Stretto di Messina company (on which a dispute is still pending with the general contractor Eurolink) up to a new multi-span bridge project, passing through the hypothesis of one or more underwater tunnels.
Only to decide which is the most convenient way to go will be allocated approx fifty million euros.
The relaunch of the bridge over the Strait will allow Conte to confirm his commitment to two crucial aspects of his political programme: the infrastructural development of the country and the relaunch of the South.
Moreover, the project of the bridge over the Strait a large part of the 5 Star Movement likes it and – in terms of completing the high-speed rail network – it could be accepted without much effort also from the Pd, who had also sided against the work at the time of the Berlusconi governments and the Strait of Messina company.
