Brenner, total blockade triggered by a demonstration. A22 at risk of paralysis. Alarm from companies

Motorists were repeatedly told not to get on the road. The Verona Prefecture and the authorities of Trento and Bolzano have taken care of the truck drivers, banning the circulation of heavy goods vehicles along the Brenner motorway (A22), as early as 9 a.m. on Saturday 30 May, heading north (state border). The entire North East is in a tizzy. The most important Alpine corridor connecting Italia to Europe will be subjected to unprecedented stress. A total closure of transit on the Austrian side (A13), between the Schönberg exit and the state border with Italia, from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. today, is bound to cause repercussions on the entire artery, all the way to Verona. The state road and the local road system, reserved for residents, will also be closed. The protest stems from the mayors of North Tyrol, interpreters of the local population's discontent with the excesses of traffic, especially heavy traffic, which cause pollution and noise.

In the meantime, Trenitalia has announced that traffic on the Brennero-Verona railway line is slowed down between Peri and Dolcè 'as a result of an act of arson by unknown parties that caused damage to the infrastructure'. Specifically, in the early hours of Saturday 30 May, a power station on the railway line was set on fire near Domegliara, a small station a few kilometres north of Verona. The forensic police, who are carrying out the investigation, found a lighter and other clues that would confirm the arson origin of the fire. Investigations are leaning towards the hypothesis of an act linked to radical environmentalist sectors. The repercussions on traffic along the transalpine railway axis are heavy. High-speed, Intercity and Regional trains may be delayed by up to 60 minutes. Previously affected trains have already experienced longer delays of up to 100 minutes. Regionals may be subject to route restrictions or cancellations. Bus services are available for regional connections.

Returning to the protest, the leader is the mayor of Gries am Brenner, a small village with less than a thousand inhabitants a few kilometres from the Brenner Pass. In the Tyroleans' sights are the 2.5 million lorries, which every year travel along this stretch of motorway, already affected by numerous driving bans and restrictions imposed by Austria and against which Italia has filed an appeal with the European Court of Justice (the ruling is expected by the end of the year). "Three times as many trucks travel in the Tyrol as in the whole of Switzerland" say the protest organisers. Repeated appeals, also from the authorities in Vienna, to stop the environmental demonstration were to no avail. The protest is supposed to consist of a human chain and a long, slow march, which will result not only in the closure of the Austrian section of the motorway, but also of the secondary roads, in order to prevent the blockage of the motorway from causing traffic to spill over into the entire valley. In South Tyrol, the A22 Brenner motorway will be closed in a northerly direction from Sterzing from 10.30 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Saturday, 30 May, but in the event of heavy traffic jams, the closure could be brought forward and extended to the Brixen, Klausen or Bozen toll stations.

Italian companies, with the Confindustria system having long since moved to denounce the risks associated with this protest, are looking forward to Saturday 30 May with extreme concern. "The Brenner Pass represents a fundamental infrastructure for the supply chains of the Italian economy: any structural restriction along this corridor generates widespread economic effects along the entire value chain, affecting delivery times, continuity of supplies, logistics costs and, therefore, the competitiveness of production and manufacturing chains, while it slows down the operational processes of road haulage and logistics companies," says the president of Anita, Riccardo Morelli.

The Fiap (professional road hauliers) recognises the right to demonstrate and to democratic confrontation, but considers it necessary that the major European Ten-T corridors be managed through instruments shared at European level, capable of guaranteeing a balance between environmental sustainability, the right to mobility and economic continuity. Says Alessandro Peron, secretary of Fiap: "Europe cannot talk about a single market and then accept the blockage or paralysis of its main strategic routes". For Maurizio Fugatti, president of the Autonomous Province of Trento, "the Brenner Pass is not just a pass but the heart of the European Alpine corridor: blocking it means creating serious inconveniences for businesses and motorists, both on motorways and on ordinary roads. While guaranteeing the right to demonstrate, the manner of this protest is unacceptable'.