Endless construction sites, deputy minister Rixi: “We are called to correct the short vision of the past”

Edoardo Rixi (Lega), aged 49, has been the deputy minister of Infrastructure since November 2022.

The Deputy Minister, Autofiori, the sponsor of the To-Sv road, spoke about the 7-8 years of work to complete the safety and modernization areas. Do you see a schedule that matches that?

“On the section of the A6 To-Sv road, a rehabilitation program is underway, necessary for the rapid increase in traffic volume and the new regulations that, at the moment, have come into force after the collapse of the Morandi bridge in Genoa. It is a work with a number of the viaducts that require modern intervention. Closing the stretch may shorten the time, but it will bring the entire economy of the North West to its knees.

On To-Sv is the story of endless construction sites. What does it come from?

«It is a road that has been working since 1960. At the time of construction it had only one lane in each direction, with a limited capacity for demand. Work on the doubling began in 1973 and was only completed in 2001. For more than 40 years it was almost exclusively one carriage, with a high rate of accidents, many of which were fatal. Today the works are focused above all on the extraordinary maintenance of the viaducts built more than 60 years ago to withstand much lower loads than the current ones, and the activities that concern the seismic improvement between the replacement of the deck and the strengthening of the pillars ” .

The amount of work seems to have “unlocked” in the last 3-4 years. Why not before?

“Interventions to increase quality and safety standards are a priority, to avoid other tragedies like that of Genoa. For decades nothing has been done in this matter. This program has accelerated following the new technical standards of construction and the Guidelines issued by the Supreme Council of Works of the Public for risk classification and management, safety assessment and monitoring of existing bridges. If during the period of the Covid lockdown we had intervened with more encroachment works on the main arteries and the traffic was almost at a standstill, we would have avoided much of the disruption today and in the future .”

Will the intervention lead to a new revision of the tax collection approved by the ministry for the concession holder? Will there be an increase in January, despite the disruption?

“We must change the law to avoid the mistakes made in the last 20 years. The issue is not ownership, but the source of road concessions. We have more than 60 billion in investments to be made in the Internet by individuals in the coming years, but if we do not start today we risk missing the time to bring new jobs quickly before the current ones are out of use. Given that we have more tunnels and roads in the country than in other European countries and most of them were built before the 1970s, the agreement system must be improved and renegotiated, otherwise we will not be able to provide the necessary answers. . . So we can spread the cost over the entire life of the contract and not consider it over the remaining few years of the agreement.

With the construction works on To-Sv and the forced closure of the Tenda tunnel, traffic has entered state road 28. Historically it is not suitable to handle it. In a recent meeting, local councilor Marco Gabusi announced that the Armo-Cantarana crossing is envisaged in the new contract for the Anas project: what?

“In the first year of activity with Minister Salvini, this ministry worked hard on the roads of Piedmont. We have taken control of the situation in Tenda, damaged by storm Alex. We have closed the IGC with the French to guarantee the opening of a new tunnel at the beginning of summer and the procedure has begun with the signing of a new railway agreement, which will replace the one of 1970. The Armo-Cantarana tunnel, awaited for several decades, will be in the next contract of the Anas plan. For us it is of fundamental interest, because it will allow action forward in the connections between the lower Piedmont, the western Liguria and the French Riviera, we then started the final process of the Asti-Cuneo road, which will be completed by 2024 after more than 30 years of waiting of the Demonte variant by giving the extraordinary commissioner, we are about to complete the financing of the ring road of Mondovì. The intervention has been postponed for a very long time in a strategic area for the country’s economy.”

Amendments to SS28 have been requested for 30 years, at three key points. Nothing has happened. It seems that the authorization is now over and everything needs to be redone. Anas is silent. Can you elaborate?

“We need a general vision of the works of the area, estimated in the future to avoid the mistakes of those who, until now, have preferred a quick compromise on the quality and usefulness of the works of art. Some investigations are underway on SS 28 which will also consider the reduction of traffic due to the construction of the Armo-Cantarana road. Today’s construction sites and disruptions are largely the result of a policy of poverty, which has shortened its useful life. A short vision that we are called to fix, for the safety of users and the needs of our economy.”