Italy’s Controversial Messina Strait Bridge Project Approved, Work Expected by Late 2025
Italy’s Controversial Messina Strait Bridge Project Approved, Work Expected by Late 2025
Italy’s long-debated project to construct a bridge connecting Sicily to the mainland has received government approval, with plans for the massive infrastructure undertaking to commence as early as September or October of this year. The committee of Italian ministers officially greenlit the 3.3-kilometer (2.05-mile) suspension bridge across the Strait of Messina, a project that, if completed by its 2032 target, would become the world’s longest.
Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s coalition government is championing the €13.5 billion ($15.6 billion) state-funded initiative as a crucial economic stimulus for Italy’s less affluent southern regions. Transport Minister Matteo Salvini has hailed it as the ‘biggest infrastructure project in the West,’ emphasizing its potential as a ‘development accelerator’ for Sicily and Calabria, and even hinting at its potential for dual military use.
Despite its proponents’ enthusiasm, the project remains highly controversial. Critics raise significant concerns about building a record-breaking bridge in an active earthquake zone, the enormous cost, potential environmental damage, and fears of mafia infiltration into construction contracts. Environmental groups recently filed a complaint with the European Union, and opposition politicians have slammed the ‘mega-project’ as a potential ‘gigantic black hole’ that disregards environmental and safety norms. Many observers remain skeptical about the project ever materializing, although ministers assert this approval marks the furthest the decades-old proposal has ever progressed.
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