The Autostrada del Sole turns 60. It was the driving force of the Italian economy, now it looks to the future

Public works often mark an era. And the Milan-Naples Autostrada del Sole is one of them. Today, this great infrastructure is 60 years old, having been inaugurated in Florence on 4 October 1964, after eight years of work, by the then Prime Minister, Aldo Moro (DC). Although it was built more than half a century ago, the motorway, also known as the A1, remains the longest in Italy, with a distance covered of more than 750 kilometres. From the very beginning, this artery was the backbone of the country. At the time, the investment amounted to over 272 billion lire (which today would be 3.5 billion euro), an enormous amount for those times, making the Autostrada del Sole the largest infrastructure project in Italy since the end of the war. Among the financiers of the work was Mediobanca in a pool with 18 other institutions.

After its inauguration, the motorway quickly became the interpreter of Italy's post-war renaissance. Italy was experiencing the economic miracle, a boom that transformed it into an industrial power and at the same time brought millions of people into the middle class. Just as many were buying their first car, which became the symbol of this emancipation, so they travelled this new route to discover the country, charging the Autostrada del Sole with a special significance. 'The motorway represented the future,' wrote historian Ernesto Galli della Loggia.

This marvel of mobility has indeed contributed significantly to the development of the Italian economy. By uniting the North with the South, it has facilitated the movement of goods by allowing trucks to take one day rather than the traditional two to reach the two ends of the country. This cut in the cost of transport and, consequently, the price of goods, helped to improve the quality of life of Italians. During the eight years it took to build the work, the motorway was opened gradually, one section at a time. The first section dates back to 1959 and is the one from Milan to Bologna. After overcoming the most treacherous part between Bologna and Florence, which crosses the deep valleys of the Apennines, the Autostrada del Sole was finally completed in 1964.

Now, however, is the time to look to the future. Autostrade per l'Italia (Aspi), the concessionaire of the A1, continues to invest in the Autostrada del Sole motorway to modernise and expand it at major nerve centres, some of which have reached saturation point. Among the most significant projects are the expansion of the stretch between Barberino and Incisa, in Tuscany, and the first 100 kilometres of smart road between Firenze Sud and the Bologna urban node. A new way, the latter, of conceiving mobility, which projects motorways into the future, thanks to the interconnection between vehicles and infrastructures, considering roads, vehicles and users as parts of a single interconnected space.