An Italian court rejected the government’s plan to build a $15.7 billion suspension bridge between Sicily and the mainland. Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni responded that the project would not be stopped. (Italian Ministry of Infrastructure)
NAPLES, Italy — An ambitious plan to build a $15.7 billion suspension bridge from the island of Sicily to Italy’s mainland was rejected this week by a court that oversees Italian government spending.
The Court of Auditors’ ruling Wednesday casts doubt on the viability of the major infrastructure project, which initially garnered consideration as a way for Italy to meet a new defense spending target expected of NATO allies.
A bridge likely would save time and money on travel for U.S. service members, civilians and their families assigned to Naval Air Station Sigonella near the Sicilian town of Catania who rely on ferries and planes to reach the mainland.
The court dismissed a resolution greenlighted in August by a government economic planning and sustainable development committee, the Italian news agency Ansa reported Thursday.
The review was strictly related to the economic and financial plan of the 2-mile-long bridge’s construction and did not assess “the opportunity and merit of the work,” the court said in the Ansa report.
On Thursday, Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni was meeting with Transport Minister Matteo Salvini and other officials to determine next steps, Ansa reported.
In a post to her official X account, Meloni called the court’s decision “intolerable interference” and an encroachment on the jurisdiction of the government and parliament. The project would not be stopped, she said in the Wednesday post.
Italian officials have said the bridge is vital for economic development in the country’s south.
They also proposed that the project could boost Italy’s defense spending, a notion that was quickly withdrawn after the U.S. warned against creative accounting by NATO members to reach a spending level of 5% of their gross domestic product on defense by 2035.
The idea dates to Roman times and the Italian government first asked for proposals in 1969. The project has been canceled previously due to concerns about seismic activity and environmental impacts, among other issues.
