Translated automatically by AI from the Italian original.
CATANIA / ACIREALE – A major new road to finally overcome the crippling traffic jams on Catania’s ring road and directly link the Acireale motorway toll booth with the Catania-Syracuse road axis. This is the key proposal in the €251 million strategic plan drawn up by the mayor of the Metropolitan City of Catania, Enrico Trantino, and sent to the Region of Sicily ahead of the next budget law at the Sicilian Regional Assembly (ARS).
The programme document sets out eight priority projects for the Mount Etna area. Among them is a request for €28 million earmarked solely for the design of the bypass, intended to provide a concrete answer to the daily hardships endured by thousands of commuters and hauliers.
The route and the agreement with Ance
The project idea, strongly backed by Ance (the National Association of Building Contractors), envisages a road running parallel to the current ring road. The scheme aims to connect the foothill towns with the Motta Sant’Anastasia area, continuing past Catania’s industrial zone to join the link with the Syracuse area.
“Modifying the current ring road is unthinkable; it would mean completely blocking traffic,” stressed the mayor of Acireale, Roberto Barbagallo, thanking his counterpart Trantino for including the project among the province’s priorities.
The Acireale mayor’s words and the funding issue for the Bridge
In underlining the decisive impact of the project for the entire metropolitan area, the Acireale mayor issued a strong appeal to the regional institutions:
“A great many people travel to Catania for work and face enormous daily difficulties. We are asking the President of the Sicilian Region and the entire Parliament to allocate the necessary funds in the budget, at least to start the executive design and identify the final route.”
The affair has inevitably reignited the debate over the management of funds for major projects in Sicily. While reaffirming his support for building the Strait Bridge, Barbagallo emphasised the timeline for releasing the funds:
“We need to understand if and when the earmarked money for the Bridge will be released. If it is expected to take another ten or fifteen years to produce an executive design for the Strait, it would be wiser to free up those funds immediately, as they could be used to build roads, motorways and rail links that are vital and urgent for the whole of Sicily.”
