Ponte sullo Stretto, new roadmap: resolution and additional act by summer

A new timetable for the Ponte sullo Stretto bridge, which on the administrative front starts again from the paperwork. It is the Infrastructure decree of the ministry headed by Matteo Salvini that puts its hand to the timetable again: in the illustrative report to the measure two new dates also appear, but apparently they are not written in stone. But in the meantime the time horizon is set: the CIPESS resolution and the Third Additional Act to the concession will be ready by the summer to be sent to the Court of Auditors. The first, the most important, by 31 May. The second - on which the Court of Auditors had objected to an inversion in the old procedures (first the deed and then the resolution) - by 31 July, after the resolution. A new round that still promises to be at the centre of the political clash, with Avs leader Angelo Bonelli attacking, contesting "the lack of respect for the institutions" for having set a certain date: "Ciucci and Salvini," he said, "have been making announcements on the start of work since 2023, only to systematically postpone them to later dates. Called into question, Stretto di Messina's CEO replied: "The times indicated, by the summer, for the start-up of the construction phase of the bridge over the Strait of Messina obviously take into account the planned legitimacy checks by the Court of Auditors," Pietro Ciucci said in a note, "so, contrary to what Mr Bonelli claims, there is no lack of respect.

The new timetable for the bridge, strongly desired by the deputy prime minister and leader of the Carroccio, lines up a precise technical sequence. It starts with the preliminary investigation by the Ministry of Infrastructure, with the updating of the economic-financial plan and the acquisition of the opinions of the Transport Regulatory Authority, the Higher Council of Public Works and Nars. At the same time, the Habitat environmental procedure is concluded, with the technical acts of the Environment and the MIT and the subsequent deliberation by the Council of Ministers on the imperative reasons of public interest, a step that allows the project to proceed even in the presence of environmental impact findings on the sites affected by the work. Once the preliminary package has been completed, all the documentation is forwarded to the CIPESS for a new resolution, adopted by 31 May. The Committee's go-ahead then passes to the Court of Auditors for preventive control. Only after the go-ahead from CIPESS can the contractual phase begin with the signing of the Third Additional Deed to the concession with Stretto di Messina - by 31 July - which will incorporate the new business plan. The final assent decree is then sent back to the Court of Auditors, closing the authorisation chain with the two passages to the accounting magistrates' court that went unheeded last time.

In the decree there is also a reorganisation of the operational machine: ground works and railway connections end up under a commissioner's direction with wider powers, in an attempt not to leave the Bridge isolated from the infrastructure that should make it work. "In view of the technical complexity and the need to ensure a perfect time alignment between the construction of the Bridge and the railway adduction works, the regulation provides for the appointment of an Extraordinary Commissioner," explains the report, identified in Rfi's CEO Aldo Isi. The commissioner, the report goes on to explain, will focus in particular on three strategic interventions: the connecting branches (on the Calabria side) towards Villa San Giovanni and Reggio Calabria (Bivio Bolano); the connecting branches (on the Sicily side) between the Santa Cecilia tunnel and the Messina-Catania line; and the new Messina Gazzi station. The technical report also specifies that the estimated cost of the interventions "is equal to 1,766 million euro, with funding of 40 million euro from the update of the Mit-Rfi Programme Contract, investment part, 2025".

There is not only the bridge in the decree. Alongside the new timetable for the Strait, the text also redraws the map of commissioners and infrastructure interventions. On the Gran Sasso and A24-A25 motorways front, the line is to lighten the fragmentation of competences, with the aim of rationalising tasks and functions and ensuring more effective coordination along the same sections. The extension of the commissioners until 2028 remains the pivot of the Abruzzo part of the decree, with the idea of not interrupting work on water safety, tunnel adaptation and motorway maintenance. On the other hand, one of the operational novelties concerns the reorganisation of the road commissioner management under Anas. Paragraph 2 establishes that, within 60 days of the decree coming into force, the Ministry of Infrastructure will have to issue a reconnaissance measure with the list of interventions destined to come under the responsibility of Anas CEO Claudio Andrea Gemme. The decree will have to set down in black and white the procedural and financial timetables, the coverage available, and also the criteria for withdrawing resources in the event of delays or failure to meet deadlines.

The latter rule is also repeated for some of Rfi's construction sites. The decree envisages centralisation here as well as on roads: the managing director of Rfi will take over from the current extraordinary commissioners for the design, assignment and execution of national works, with the same powers but without new costs for the State. The works under single director also include the railway link with Catullo airport and the new bridge between Paderno and Calusco sull'Adda. The assignment will end when the interventions come into operation.