Autostrade of Italy

The Autostrade (; singular ) are roads forming the Italian national system of motorways. The total length of the system is about . In North and Central Italy, the Autostrade mainly consists of tollways managed by Autostrade per l'Italia, a holding company controlled by Cassa Depositi e Prestiti. Other operators include ASTM, ATP, and Autostrade Lombarde in the north-west; Autostrada del Brennero, A4 Holding, Concessioni Autostradali Venete, and Autovie Venete in the north-east; Strada dei Parchi, SALT, SAT, and Autocisa in the center; and CAS in the south.

History

Italy became the first country to inaugurate motorways reserved for motor vehicles with the A8. The Milan-Laghi motorway (connecting Milan to Varese) was devised by Piero Puricelli, a civil engineer and entrepreneur. He received the first authorization to build a public-utility fast road in 1921, and completed the construction (one lane each direction) between 1924 and 1926. By the end of the 1930s, over 400 kilometers of multi- and dual-single-lane motorways had been constructed throughout Italy, linking cities and rural towns.

Traffic laws

Italy's autostrade must not be used by:

*Pedestrians and animals (except in rest areas)
*Pedal-cycles
*Mopeds
*Motorcycles having an engine displacement less than (if equipped with an internal combustion engine)
*Sidecars having an engine displacement less than (if equipped with an internal combustion engine)
*Motorized tricycles designed for the transport of people with up to 2 seats having an engine displacement less than (if equipped with an internal combustion engine) or having an engine power less than
*Motorcycle-like vehicles (''motoveicoli'') not included in previous categories having an empty vehicle weight up to or a gross vehicle mass up to
*Cars with a design speed on flat road less than Art. 372 ''Regolamento di esecuzione del codice della strada''
*Vehicles without tyres
*Agricultural vehicles and technical vehicles (e.g. heavy equipment)

Speed

Italy's autostrade have a standard speed limit of for cars. Limits for other vehicles (or during foul weather and/or low visibility) are lower. Legal provisions allow operators to set the limit to 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 measure the average speed over a given distance. As of 2022, no road was utilizing this possibility.

The first speed limit, to , was enacted in November 1973 as a result of the 1973 oil crisis. In October 1977, a graduated system was introduced: cars with engine displacement above had a speed limit, cars of 900–1299 cm³ had a limit of , those of 600–899 cm³ could drive at , and those of or less had a maximum speed of . In July 1988 a blanket speed limit of was imposed on all cars above 600 cm³ (the lower limit was kept for smaller cars) by the short-lived PSDI government. In September 1989 this was increased to for cars above and for smaller ones.

List of current Autostrade

List of ''bretelle'' and ''raccordi autostradali''

Some ''autostrade'' are called ''bretelle, diramazioni'' or ''raccordi'' because they are short and have few exits.

''Bretelle'', ''diramazioni'' or ''raccordi'' are generally connections between two motorways, or connections between motorways and important cities without a motorway.

They have the same number (sometimes with the suffix ''dir'') as one of the two autostrade linked, a combination of the numbers of the two autostrade linked, or the number of the main autostrada.

Trafori (T)

Important alpine tunnels ( ''trafori'') are identified by the capital letter "T" followed by a single digit number. Currently there are only three T-classified tunnels: Mont Blanc Tunnel (T1), Great St Bernard Tunnel (T2) and Frejus Road Tunnel (T4). Tunnels that cross the border between Italy and France (T1, T4) or Switzerland (T2), are treated as motorways (green signage, access control, and so on), although they are not proper motorways. The code T3 was once assigned to the Bargagli-Ferriere Tunnel in Ligurian Apennines before it was reclassified as SP 226.

Raccordi autostradali (RA)

RA stands for ''Raccordo autostradale'' (translated as "motorway connection"), a relatively short spur route that connects an ''autostrada'' to a nearby city or tourist resort not directly served by the motorway. These spurs are owned and managed by ANAS (with some exceptions, such as the RA7 that became A53 when assigned to a private company for maintenance). Some spurs are toll-free motorways (type-A), but most are type-B or type-C roads. All RA have separate carriageways with two lanes in each direction. Generally, they do not have an emergency lane.

Strade extraurbane principali

''Type B'' highway (or ''strada extraurbana principale''), commonly but unofficially known as ''superstrada'' (Italian equivalent for expressway), is a divided highway with at least two lanes in each direction, paved shoulder on the right, no cross-traffic and no at-grade intersections. Access restrictions on such highways are exactly the same as autostrade. Signage at the beginning and the end of the highways is the same, except the background color is blue instead of green. The general speed limit on ''strade extraurbane principali'' is 110 km/h. ''Strade extraurbane principali'' are not tolled. All ''strade extraurbane principali'' are owned and managed by ANAS, and directly controlled by the Italian government or by the regions.

See also

*State highway (Italy)
* Transport in Italy
* Rai isoradio
* List of controlled-access highway systems
*Evolution of motorway construction in European nations

References

External links

''Autostrade per l'Italia'' Official website
*

{{Motorways in Europe

Road transport in Italy
Lists of roads in Italy