On 16 March, the Italian government approved a decree which will revive the idea of building a bridge over the Strait of Messina to connect the island of Sicily to the mainland, says the mayor.
The text of the decree intervenes overall in different areas (among the main ones: corporate structure and governance of the Strait of Messina, concession relationship, a restart of the planning and design activities of the work, and environmental monitoring service), in order to allow, as soon as possible, the restart of the executive design procedure for the bridge.
The idea itself dates back to the Ancient Romans and throughout the centuries it has gone through various iterations (including an idea to build an underwater tunnel in the 19th century) – all ultimately fruitless.
Currently, crossing the 3.8-km watery stretch is possible via a ferry ride between the ports of Messina (Sicily) and Villa San Giovanni (Calabria).
Nevertheless, there are concerns about the viability of such a project due to the seismically active nature of the region, given that the Mount Etna volcano is only a stone’s throw distance from there.
