Bridge to Sicily: a strategic project for Italy and Europe or a waste of resources?

Talks of building a bridge across the Strait of Messina date back to Roman times. Yet, the bridge over the Strait has never gone beyond the planning stage. Too expensive or technically too complex, it’s been part of Italian governments’ political agendas since the 60s. Now, the far-right Minister of Infrastructure Matteo Salvini has set his sights on it.

With its 3,300-metre central span, the bridge would be the longest suspension bridge in the world. It will also be an important piece of the European Union’s Scandinavian-Mediterranean Corridor, an artery that will link Northern and Southern Europe, to facilitate the movement of people and goods.

According to the latest estimate, it would cost a staggering €13.5 billion. The European Union has allocated some €25 million, covering only half of the design costs for the rail infrastructure. Critics say that the area where the bridge is to be built is known for high seismic activity, raising safety concerns.

The project has been met with strong resistance from locals who say national and European funds should be put to better use, to finance basic services in Italy’s disadvantaged south. 

In Sicily, the citizens’ committee “No Bridge” points out that the project does not have all the necessary hydrological, seismic and landscape surveys. It slams the infrastructure’s public utility.

“We have just spent a summer without tap water, says activist Gino Sturniolo. Yet, just a portion of the money intended for the bridge would be enough to fix the entire water supply system. Not to mention healthcare, the issue of schools, housing, and seismic safety.”

In Calabria, the founder of a committee of residents who will be expropriated lives where a pylon is to be erected, metres away from a seismic fault.

“As ordinary people, who still do their own research, explains Rossella Bulsei, we’re wondering why experts are approving each new version of the project with new conditions and recommendations. We are worried that the structure is not sufficiently safe.”

In Sicily, almost half of the trains still run on diesel, while in Calabria, high-speed trains might never arrive. So, is the controversial bridge project between Sicily and Calabria really a strategic piece of infrastructure for Europe and Italy? 

“The bridge should be a strategic hub for the country, explains Adriano Giannola, President of the Association for the Development of the Industry in Southern Italy. Sicily is the physical centre of the Mediterranean. Ships coming out of the Suez Canal pass Sicilian ports, but they don’t stop there, they go all the way to Rotterdam. If we want to change this, the bridge is one of the keys.”

Giannola doesn’t think the current project for the bridge is the best solution, the safest or the cheapest. Nevertheless, he is convinced that the bridge is a necessity. Concerning the controversy around the urgency in guaranteeing basic services in Southern regions, he says the problem is how the Italian government has managed its resources so far: “The Italian law establishes that 40% of state infrastructure spending should be allocated to the South. Every year, up to €60 billion are missing. This should be the real battle, not building the bridge,” concludes Giannola. 

Experts still disagree on technical aspects, benefits, costs and even on the procedures followed by the government. Differences that are fuelling residents’ resentment and the feeling they are being asked to make a useless sacrifice.