[1] The bridge has been controversial due to the impact of earthquakes, strong currents in the strait, concerns of disruption of bird migration routes, and the infiltration of mafia groups Cosa Nostra and 'Ndrangheta in area construction projects.

Pliny the Elder, a philosopher and Roman military leader born in 23 AD, wrote of a plan to bridge the strait with a series of connecting boats.

In 1866, public works minister Stefano Jacini gave Alfredo Cottrau, an internationally recognised engineer, the task of drawing up plans for a bridge between Calabria and Sicily.

This tunnel was to start at Contesse and was to pass below Messina and Ganzirri at a depth of 150 m (490 ft), crossing the strait to Punta Pezzo and resurfacing at Torre Cavallo.

[13] The bridge was planned to connect Reggio Calabria to Messina, the two cities that face each other on either side of the strait, in order to form a single metropolitan area.

Other reasons for abandoning the plan were earthquake risk and fears that the bridge would enrich the networks of organized crime in Italy, such as Cosa Nostra and 'Ndrangheta.

The following month, Altero Matteoli, Italy's minister of infrastructure and transport, confirmed the government's intent to restart work on the bridge in a letter to Pietro Ciucci, the president of Società Stretto di Messina.

Until 2006, when the project was halted, the work had been assigned to a consortium of Impregilo (now called Webuild), Condotte d'Acqua, Cooperativa Muratori & Cementisti, and Consorzio Stabile A.C.I., alongside Spain's Sacyr and Japan's IHI Corporation.

[18] On 3 June 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, premier Giuseppe Conte brought up the topic of the bridge, declaring that the government would evaluate the resumption of work without prejudice.

[19][20] On 22 April 2021, the CEO of Webuild, Pietro Salini, in a joint press conference with the President of the Sicilian Region Nello Musumeci, announced that he was ready to build the Strait of Messina Bridge, starting immediately with the work and on the basis of the executive project and construction site approved definitively in 2013.

[21][22] On 16 March 2023, the Government of Italy, chaired by Giorgia Meloni, with Matteo Salvini at the Ministry of Infrastructure, approved a decree to proceed with the construction of the bridge by remodeling the existing project.

[24] On 27 March 2006, Impregilo and Stretto di Messina announced that they had signed a contract assigning final project planning to a general contractor.

The general contractor would also be assisted by the Danish and Canadian companies COWI A/S, Sund & Baelt A/S, and Buckland & Taylor Ltd., who would handle project engineering.

[25] The bridge has been controversial due to the impact of earthquakes, strong currents in the strait, concerns about disruption of bird migration routes, and possible infiltration of the mafia groups Cosa Nostra and 'Ndrangheta in area construction projects.

Alternatively, a much cheaper revamping of the existing structures is claimed to be sufficient (for instance, the ferry lines on the Calabria side are accessible to trucks only by driving through very narrow streets, which are a tight bottleneck for transport).