Aim to open Messina bridge worksites this year - Salvini

EU shows it believes in project by putting in cash says minister

By: ansa.it

Jul 22 2024
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Aim to open Messina bridge wor

Deputy Premier and Transport and Infrastructure Minister Matteo Salvini said Monday that he is hopeful the worksites for the project to build a bridge across the Strait of Messina to connect Sicily to the Italian mainland can be opened by the end of the year. "Europe is funding part of the design of the railway for the Strait Bridge," Salvini said at the inauguration of two new metro stations in Catania.
    "The objective remains to finish the project and open the construction sites by the end of this year.
    "The fact that the European Union is putting tens of millions of euro into it means that, like us and like many Sicilians, it believes in the project".
    Since becoming infrastructure minister in 2022, Salvini has pushed strongly to revive the project, which was mooted by successive past centre-right governments but never actually started due to many factors, including the significant cost.
    The bridge currently has a price tag of some 14.6 billion euro and is scheduled to come into use in the late 2030s.