Enough waste: half a century to build a road. Isn't that absurd?

Waste and public roads, a quintessentially Italian combination . The scandal of the endless construction site for the Salerno-Reggio Calabria highway, now a literary phenomenon rather than a story of investigative journalism, is unfortunately not an isolated case. Throughout Italy, from North to South, there are countless cases of construction sites starting, then closing, then half-opening, then half-closing. Even strategic roads for the country's economic system, yet they never see the light of day. Public works approved, then promptly relegated to the tunnel of bureaucracy that always blocks some step, a local veto, perhaps a minor protest, or some corrupt administrator (not just politicians) or public official who, with the complicity of unscrupulous companies, profits from construction delays or, worse, expects welcome bonuses to close the matter.

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WASTED PUBLIC MONEY – The Pedemontana , a key artery between the Vicenza and upper Treviso areas, the beating heart of the industrial Northeast, has been awaited by the people of Veneto for 47 years. Half a century. And the local Confindustria (Italian Industrialists' Confederation) has calculated that, thanks to the failure to complete this crucial infrastructure, local businesses are paying a daily bill for various inefficiencies amounting to €1.500. Money not wasted, but worse: literally thrown out the window. Ordinary citizens of Puglia and Basilicata, two regions close on the map but far apart when it comes to public transportation, have been waiting for the completion of the Bari-Matera state road for ten years . We're not talking about the Autostrada del Sole, the Naples-Milan highway, which when Italy dreamed and did things on a grand scale was built in just a few years and changed the face of the country, but about a small stretch of road that simply needs modernization and safety improvements. Not doing so is another waste, a blow to the local economy and tourism : what can an American tourist do who wants to stretch from the beauty of Bari's historic center to the Sassi of Matera in a reasonable amount of time and without taking excessive risks? Should he rent a helicopter?

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In Emilia Romagna, some thirty years have passed since the famous Cispadana, a 67-kilometer road, was first discussed—with resolutions, contracts, tenders, and intermittent funding—another essential artery because it would provide a direct link between the Tyrrhenian and Adriatic Seas, eliminating the need to drive around the island. Meanwhile, the cost of the project, another example of road waste : when the timeframe gets longer, everything increases, has soared to €1.1 billion.

I can imagine and anticipate the objection some readers might raise when reading these stories: are all the roads under construction in Italy useful? Those we've mentioned are certainly useful; perhaps others are just useless projects, construction sites opened just to hand out a few random grants . Everything must be considered on a case-by-case basis, necessity by necessity. But one thing is certain: promising road projects, approving them, and then throwing them away, except for the expenses, is damaging and wasteful for Italy . That is, for all of us. And it is an unacceptable incentive for corruption.

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