Lueg Bridge, new tensions between Italy and Austria

New tensions have arisen between Italy and Austria along the Brenner motorway corridor, which is already at loggerheads over the long series of unilateral traffic bans introduced by the Tyrol to protect air quality. Now attention is shifting to the renovation work on the Lueg bridge, on the Austrian section of the motorway, just 6 kilometres from the state border with Italy. A maxi-worksite that risks creating a gigantic bottleneck along a strategic artery for connections between Italy and Europe. Over the past few days, the website of Asfinag (www.asfinag.at), the public company managing Austria's roads, has published the news of the decision to limit the circulation of vehicles on the section of the A13 motorway affecting the Lueg Bridge to only one lane in each direction, starting from 1 January 2025. This decision was taken to ensure the safety of traffic on the bridge itself, and the duration of this restriction is closely related to the time needed to build the new parallel bridge, which will replace the current one (estimated at no less than three years). On busy days, up to 60,000 vehicles, including cars and trucks, pass over the Lueg Bridge. A huge snake that will have to be channelled into one lane.

Il ponte Leug

La società autostradale austriaca Asfinag conferma che dal primo gennaio 2025 la circolazione lungo il viadotto dell’autostrada A13 (asse del Brennero) sarà limitata a una corsia unica

Un’immagine del ponte austriaco

The decision in itself does not come as a surprise because Austria had long since announced the urgent need to carry out maintenance work on the bridge, which at 1,804 metres is the longest viaduct on the Austrian motorway network. What infuriates Italian haulage companies is the fact that this decision, which affects a European corridor of the Ten-T network thatis strategic for national exports, should have been taken following coordination andnot unilaterally. For this reason, the road haulage associations Anita (Confindustria), Agci Produzione e Lavoro, Cna Fita, Confartigianato Trasporto, Confcooperative Lavoro e Servizi, Fai, Fedit, Fiap, Legacoop Produzione e Servizi, Sna Casartigiani, Unatras, Unitai together with Uniontrasporti, an in-house company of the Italian Chamber system, sent a letter-appeal to the Minister of Infrastructure, Matteo Salvini.

According to the hauliers, on the Italian side of the A22 (Autobrennero) there are structures built in the same time period for which no similar traffic restriction measures were taken. This leads us to believe, we read in the letter sent to Salvini, that the reasons put forward by Austria regarding the urgency of the intervention and the seriousness of the condition of the Lueg bridge must be ascertained by a third body. "Since our country has not been informed - and we believe neither have the other countries of the Alpine Arc - nor even less consulted on the need to build a new alternative infrastructure to the Lueg bridge,' the associations ask the minister to intervene to stigmatise 'such behaviour and to take the actions deemed useful to clarify the real situation'.

Says Riccardo Morelli, president of Anita: "We learn with much concern the announcement of new restrictions on freight traffic at the Lueg bridge on the Brenner axis. It is absurd how decisions affecting the movement of goods within the EU, on a priority corridor, are taken without the knowledge of the European Commission and the countries affected by the measure. As is well known, the infringement procedure opened by Italy against Vienna now provides for an appeal to the EU Court of Justice and these new restrictions, together with the previous ones, can only strengthen the Italian position. The permeability of the Alps is an essential factor for our country's competitiveness'.

The associations ask Minister Salvini to represent to Brussels the need for a coordination between the member states that precedes the introduction of national measures on transport arteries that are fundamental in the international movement of goods, as in the case of the new restrictions on the Lueg bridge. The letter goes on to say: 'These new restrictions will further complicate transit at the Brenner. Therefore, the associations demand that, at the same time as any measures restricting the capacity of HGV traffic at the Brenner, the night ban on the A12 and the night-time toll surcharge on the A13 be suspended.