Autostrade of Italy

[10] The term autostrada was used for the first time in an official document from 1922 in which the engineer Piero Puricelli presented the project for the Autostrada dei Laghi ('Lakes Motorway'); with that term, it indicated those roads characterized by a straight path (as far as possible), without obstacles, characterized by a high achievable speed, passable only by motor vehicles (Italian: autoveicoli, hence the name) aimed at the rapid transport of goods and people.

[6] Piero Puricelli, a civil engineer and entrepreneur, received the first authorization to build a public-utility fast road in 1921, and completed the construction (one lane in each direction) between 1924 and 1926.

[13] In 1927 the Milan-Bergamo motorway was opened (part of the current Autostrada A4) whose concessionary company was owned by Piero Puricelli.

[15] In 1939, a year before Italy entered into the World War II, the construction of the Genoa-Savona motorway (the current Autostrada A10) was approved.

Legislative decree 17 April 1948, n. 547 defines motorways "as those communication routes reserved for paid transit of motor vehicles, built and operated by the A.N.A.S.

The law of 7 February 1961, n. 59 defines motorways "as those communication routes exclusively reserved for the selected transit, usually for a fee, of motor vehicles and motorbikes, without level crossings or in any case unattended, which are recognized as such by decree of the Minister for Public Works".

[23] The Italian traffic code defines the motorway as follows: extra-urban or urban road with independent carriageways or separated by an impassable traffic island, each with at least two lanes, possible paved shoulder on the left and emergency lane or paved shoulder on the right, without at-grade intersections and private accesses, equipped with a fence and user assistance systems along the entire route, reserved for the circulation of certain categories of motor vehicles and characterized by specific start and end signs; must be equipped with special rest areas and parking areas, both with accesses equipped with deceleration and acceleration lanes.These characteristics, however, may not be respected (for example in the application of the dynamic lane) by virtue of the exceptions provided for by the Italian traffic code itself: when particular local, environmental, landscape, archaeological and economic conditions do not allow adaptation, provided that road safety is ensured and pollution is in any case avoided.In the event that, [...], particular local, environmental, landscape, archaeological and economic conditions do not allow full compliance with these regulations, different design solutions may be adopted provided that they are supported by specific safety analyses and subject to the favourable opinion of the Superior Council of Public Works for motorways, main extra-urban roads and urban thoroughfares, and of the Regional Authority for Public Works for other roads.In any case, some standards are applied in all newly built motorways.

For example, the interchanges must be accessible by ramps (acceleration and deceleration lanes) set aside from the main traffic flow, the carriageways separated by continuous median strips.

The numbers of motorways and tunnels are assigned with a circular from the Minister of Infrastructure and Transport to be published in the Gazzetta Ufficiale.

Public administrations remain responsible for risks on the supply and demand side that can be attributed outside the scope of normal operating conditions due to the existence of unforeseen and unpredictable events.

[29] Examples of the latter case include the unavailability of the infrastructure due to the failure to carry out scheduled and breakdown maintenance by the concessionaire if it has been deprived of the necessary administrative authorizations and, in particular, of the cost variations borne by the Italian State, which in any case could have been anticipated by the private economic operator, only to then exercise the right of compensation against the public administration.

[29] However, it ordinarily—but not necessarily exclusively—identifies the public administration itself, and not the citizens, as the main user-customer of the service provided by the concessionaire's infrastructure and the user of the granted work.

From 1 October 2012 the granting body is the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport and no longer Anas[31] and the majority (5,773.4 kilometres (3,587.4 mi) in 2009[32]) are subject to toll payments.

Until September 2012, Anas controlled the operations of the concessionaire companies through the IVCA (Supervision Inspectorate for motorway concessions) equipped with an autonomous organizational structure.

Starting from 1 October 2012, the functions were then transferred to the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport,[33] which exercises them through the General Directorate for Supervision of Motorway Concessions.

[7][8] Other operators include ASTM, ATP, and Autostrade Lombarde in the north-west; Autostrada del Brennero, A4 Holding, Concessioni Autostradali Venete [it], and Autovie Venete [it] in the north-east; Strada dei Parchi [it], SALT, SAT, and Autocisa in the center; and CAS in the south.

27 of the legislative decree of 21 June 2013, n. 69—converted into law 9 August 2013, n. 98—modified the procedure for the approval of annual adjustments to motorway tariffs, abolishing the provision (dictated by paragraph 5 of art.

21 of legislative decree 355/2003) which regulated, within the scope of the procedure, the relationship between companies grantor and Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport.

Now the proposal relating to the tariff changes that the concessionaire intends to apply is formulated to the grantor (therefore to the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport), by 15 October of each year and that this proposal is approved or rejected by 15 December, by decree reasoned by the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport (in agreement with the Minister of Economy and Finance).

Legal provisions allow operators to set the limit to 150 km/h (95 mph) on their concessions on a voluntary basis if there are three lanes in each direction and a working SICVE, or Safety Tutor, which is a speed-camera system that measures the average speed over a given distance.

One year after the introduction of the Safety Tutor (which took place on 23 December 2005[38]), important benefits were found in reducing accident rates (-22%).

[10] From a technical point of view, however, the mixed barrier/free-flow system is active where, at the entrance and exit from the motorways, there are lanes dedicated to the collection of a ticket (on entry) and the delivery of the ticket with simultaneous payment (on exit) and other lanes where, during transit without the need to stop, an electronic toll system[46] present in the vehicles records the data and debits the toll, generally into the bank account previously communicated by the customer, to the manager of his device.

[47] It requires the driver of the vehicle to collect a special ticket at the entrance to the motorway and pay the amount due upon exit.

Motorway barriers are arranged along the route (however not at every junction), at which the user pays a fixed sum, depending only on the class of the vehicle.

In 1984, by ministerial decree of 20 July 1983, some motorway junctions, already open, forming part of the Italian trunk roads, were defined and classified as such.

[50] It was initially classified as a motorway, but following the decree of 22 July 1989, responsibilities were transferred to Anas, which included the route in the itinerary of the state road 225 of Val Fontanabuona.

[51][52] Legislative decree 30 April 1992, n. 285, article 2, regarding the "New Italian traffic code", defines strade extraurbane principali in this way:[51] Road with independent carriageways or separated by an impassable traffic island, each with at least two lanes and paved shoulder on the right, without at-grade intersections, with coordinated access to lateral properties, characterized by the appropriate start and end signs, reserved for the circulation of certain categories of motor vehicles; suitable spaces must be provided for any other categories of users.

All strade extraurbane principali are owned and managed by Anas, and directly controlled by the Italian government or by the regions.

Together with the Florence-Pisa-Livorno highway [it] and the Autostrada Catania-Siracusa, it is one of the three roads that has definitively received a classification made up only of letters and not alphanumeric.

[53] In July 2020, the Italian government defined a broad investment plan for infrastructure in Italy, including substantial interventions on the motorway network.