At this meeting, the state of progress of the Messina Strait Bridge project was reviewed.

Messina, 9 January 2024 – A scheduled meeting between Messina Mayor Federico Basile and Stretto di Messina CEO Pietro Ciucci took place today. At this meeting, the state of progress of the Messina Strait Bridge project was reviewed. The meeting was attended, among others, by Deputy Mayor Salvatore Mondello, General Manager Salvo Puccio and Bridge Committee Chairman, Giuseppe Trischitta.

Mayor Basile promised: “Full cooperation in meeting the compulsory purchase requirements and notifying the various operational phases to the general public. Our city has a key role to play in delivery of the project, as well as in identifying the accompanying works, and in infrastructure planning in general, with the aim of maximising the positive effects of the bridge on our local area.”

Stretto di Messina’s CEO, Pietro Ciucci, said: “We are proceeding swiftly and diligently. In late January or early, February I expect to submit the designers’ report, which is currently in the final stages of joint analysis by the Company, the Project Management Consultant, Parsons Transportation Group and the Scientific Committee, to the Board of Directors for approval. Moreover, the environmental documents, the traffic study, the financial plan, including operating costs, and the sustainability report are being revised. The revised cost-benefit analysis,” Mr Ciucci explained, “reported good results and the seismic-tectonic framework of the Strait area has been updated to 2023.”

Together with an assessment of the technical and economic state of progress of the project, and taking into account the revised version of the expropriation plan in the light of the designers’ report, the meeting provided an opportunity to take stock of the compulsory purchase methods and procedures, as activities have begun to revise the agreement signed in 2011 with the municipalities of Messina and Villa San Giovanni and the local trade associations Coldiretti, the Small Property Owners Association and the Trade Union for Small Property Owners. The meeting will confirm the due attention paid to the local area with respect to such an important and delicate issue as compulsory purchase orders, and, in full compliance with the regulations, will facilitate and oversee a clear, transparent pathway that takes into account the concerns of all stakeholders. “Through mediation and dialogue between the parties,”  said Mr Ciucci, “the aim is to reach agreements with all the affected parties, and promptly identify fair compensation within appropriate timeframes, in order to find alternative solutions for housing or production facilities. Once the new agreement with the municipalities has been signed, and after the Board of Directors has approved the designers’ report, the aim is to start the procedure to obtain a declaration of public utility, to be granted by the Interministerial Committee for Economic Planning and Sustainable Development (CIPESS), on their approval of the final design for the project, which will enable the start of compulsory purchase procedures.”

Mr Ciucci also pointed out that: “In line with our recent announcements, we will soon publish a public notice to find venues for information desks to be set up in Messina and Villa San Giovanni, to enable constant and smooth communication with local citizens.”