The ''Autostrada A10'', also known as the ''Autostrada dei Fiori'' or the ''AutoFiori'' ("fiori" meaning "flowers" in

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

), is an Italian

motorway A controlled-access highway is a type of highway that has been designed for high-speed vehicular traffic, with all traffic flow—ingress and egress—regulated. Common English terms are freeway, motorway and expressway. Other similar terms i ...

, passing through

Liguria it, Ligure , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographics1_title2 ...

and connecting

Genoa Genoa ( ; it, Genova ; lij, Zêna ). is the capital of the Italian region of Liguria and the sixth-largest city in Italy. In 2015, 594,733 people lived within the city's administrative limits. As of the 2011 Italian census, the Province of ...

with

Ventimiglia Ventimiglia (; lij, label= Intemelio, Ventemiglia , lij, label= Genoese, Vintimiggia; french: Vintimille ; oc, label= Provençal, Ventemilha ) is a resort town in the province of Imperia, Liguria, northern Italy. It is located southwest of ...

. It connects to the French A8 autoroute, which finishes in Aix-en-Provence, and forms part of

European route E80 European route E 80, also known as Trans-European Motorway or TEM, is an A-Class West-East European route, extending from Lisbon, Portugal to Gürbulak, Turkey, on the border with Iran. The road connects 10 countries and has a length ...

. It is long.

History

The route from Genoa to Savona was opened on 5 September 1967, and the route from Savona to Ventimiglia was opened on 6 November 1971. Between Genoa and Savona, the highway has been improved three times in recent times: the northern route, in the direction of Ventimiglia, has been renovated, while the opposite direction, towards Genoa, is now the original road, which formerly consisted of both directions. Accordingly, this side is of lower quality than the other; the widening of the road to three lanes has necessitated the removal of the emergency lane, and a reduction of all lanes to less than - this is less than the regulations of the Italian highway code, and has in turn caused a reduction of the speed limit to for most of the section between

Albisola Albisola Superiore ( Genoese: ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Savona in the Italian region Liguria, located about southwest of Genoa and about northeast of Savona. Main sights *Medieval castle *Sanctuary of ''Madonna della ...

and Genoa Voltri. The route between Savona and the Italian border, on the other hand, is completely new, having been built in the sixties; it consists of two carriageways side by side, with two lanes in each direction. It has, however, no emergency lane, but includes several places in which it is suitable to make an emergency stop. On 14 August 2018, a section of the

Ponte Morandi (English: Morandi Bridge), officially (English: Polcevera Viaduct), was a road viaduct in Genoa, Liguria, Italy, constructed between 1963 and 1967 along the A10 motorway over the Polcevera River, from which it derived its official name. It ...

bridge that formed part of the A10 collapsed during a storm, killing 43 people.Crollo Genova, trovato l'ultimo disperso sotto le macerie: è l'operaio Mirko. Muore uno dei feriti, le vittime totali sono 43
/ref>

The Autostrada today

The route is currently run by two companies: from Genoa to Savona, by the company Autostrade Italy SpA, and from Savona to the border by Autostrada dei Fiori SpA. It has 22 entrances, and includes eight service stations. Much of the route is built on hillside, with a series of viaducts and tunnels; for this reason, the entire motorway requires paying a toll charge (one of the most expensive in Italy). Past Savona, the motorway visits

Albenga Albenga ( lij, Arbenga; la, Albingaunum) is a city and ''comune'' situated on the Gulf of Genoa on the Italian Riviera in the Province of Savona in Liguria, northern Italy. Albenga has the nickname of ''city of a hundred spires''. The economy is ...

Imperia Imperia (; lij, Inpêia or ) is a coastal city and ''comune'' in the region of Liguria, Italy. It is the capital of the Province of Imperia, and historically it was capital of the ''Intemelia'' district of Liguria. Benito Mussolini created the ...

, San Remo, and

: six kilometres from Ventimiglia, it reaches the border with France. Until the nineties, the border was marked by a change of stripe colour, from yellow to white, alongside a sign in the tunnel indicating the precise location of the border—this is now gone, although its former location can still be discerned from a change of lighting systems, and the different thicknesses of asphalt. In the opposite direction, the A10 intersects with the A6, towards

Turin Turin ( , Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. The ...

, the

A26 A26 or A-26 may refer to: Roads * List of A26 roads Transportation * Douglas A-26 Invader, a light attack bomber built by Douglas * Aero A.26, a Czech reconnaissance aircraft of the 1920s * Focke-Wulf A 26, a German Focke-Wulf aircraft * Blekinge- ...

, towards the Po Valley, Switzerland, and other major cities in the north of Italy, before finally joining the A7, towards

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

and

Tuscany it, Toscano (man) it, Toscana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Citizenship , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = Italian , demogra ...

. The highway has 78 tunnels between Genoa and Nice.

Route

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:A10, Autostrada Buildings and structures completed in 1967 Autostrade in Italy Transport in Liguria