Roads in Italy are an important mode of transport in Italy. The classification of roads of Italy is regulated by the Italian traffic code, both from a technical and administrative point of view. The street nomenclature usually reflects the administrative classification. Italy is one of the countries with the most vehicles per capita, with 690 vehicles per 1000 people in 2010.See also: List of countries by vehicles per capita
Italy has a total of of paved roads, of which are motorways, called autostrade, with a general speed limit of , which since 2009 can be raised to Art. 142 Traffic Regulation under specific circumstances. Around are Strade statali (Italian for "state highways") which make up the national network of state highways. State highways can range from dual-carriageway almost motorway-level roads to single carriageway two-lane roads; because of this, state highways have speed limits that range from all the way to . This is also the case for regional and provincial roads. The routes of some nowadays state highways derive from ancient Roman roads, such as the Strada statale 7 Via Appia, which broadly follows the route of the Roman road of the same name.
Strade regionali (Italian for "regional road") are a type of Italian road maintained by the regions they traverse. Most regional roads are former state highways which were ceded by the state to the regions which the highway traversed for better management. A regional road is less important than a state highway, but more important than a strada provinciale (Italian for "provincial road"). A provincial road is an Italian road that is maintained by provinces or metropolitan cities, and, similarly to regional roads, are usually former state highways ceded by the state to the provinces which the highway traversed. A provincial street is less important than a regional road, but more important than a strada comunale (Italian for "municipal road"). Municipal roads are maintained by municipalities (comuni). They can be roads owned by the comune (inside population centers) or roads managed by the comune (outside population centers). The general speed limit of municipal roads is , but many municipalities have chosen to lower it to to increase safety for pedestrians and cyclists.
Italy was the first country in the world to build a motorway, defined as a road reserved for fast traffic and motor vehicles only. The Autostrada dei Laghi ("Lakes Motorway"), was the first to be built in the world, to connect Milan to Lake Como and Lake Maggiore. It was devised by Piero Puricelli and was inaugurated in 1924. 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. Piero Puricelli decided to cover the expenses by introducing a toll. The Lakes Motorway is now part of the Autostrada A8 and Autostrada A9.
Background
Ancient Roman roads ( ; singular: ; meaning "Roman way") were physical infrastructure vital to the maintenance and development of the Roman state, and were built from about 300 BC through the expansion and consolidation of the Roman Republic and the Roman Empire. They provided efficient means for the overland movement of armies, officials, civilians, inland carriage of official communications, and commerce.Kaszynski, William. The American Highway: The History and Culture of Roads in the United States. Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland, 2000. Page 9
Roman roads were of several kinds, ranging from small local roads to broad, long-distance highways built to connect cities, major towns and military bases. These major roads were often stone-paved and metaled, cambered for drainage, and were flanked by footpaths, bridleways and drainage ditches. They were laid along accurately surveyed courses, and some were cut through hills, or conducted over rivers and ravines on bridgework. Sections could be supported over marshy ground on rafted or piled foundations.Bailey, L. H., and Wilhelm Miller. Cyclopedia of American Horticulture, Comprising Suggestions for Cultivation of Horticultural Plants, Descriptions of the Species of Fruits, Vegetables, Flowers, and Ornamental Plants Sold in the United States and Canada, Together with Geographical and Biographical Sketches. New York [etc.]: The Macmillan Co, 1900. Page 320.Corbishley, Mike: "The Roman World", page 50. Warwick Press, 1986.
The routes of some nowadays Italian state highways derive from ancient Roman roads, such as the Strada statale 7 Via Appia (Via Appia), the Strada statale 1 Via Aurelia (Via Aurelia) and the Strada statale 4 Via Salaria (Via Salaria).
History
Since the reforms following the birth of the Kingdom of Italy in 1861, the State took charge of the construction and maintenance of a primary network of roads to allow for connections between the main cities; in 1865 the Lanza law introduced the classification of roads as national, provincial or municipal. (see Annex F, art.10.) Following the works to extend the road network, the first revision of the list took place in 1884 with Royal Decree no. 2197.
In the following decades the State invested significantly in the construction of roads, particularly in the South, but these roads were progressively delegated to the provinces, paradoxically causing a reduction in the extension of the national road network in the face of a strong increase in provincial roads. Furthermore, the road network was considered complementary to the railway network, on which long-distance traffic travelled, to the point that for a long time there was a ban on classifying roads on routes already served by the railway as national.
The extension of the road network made it necessary in 1911 to update the list drawn up almost 30 years earlier, formalized with Royal Decree no. 221 which now included 84 national roads. The advent of the automobile, which required the availability of fast and well-paved roads, changed the situation, and in the immediate post-war period it was decided to revisit the issue.
The royal decree n. 2506 (published in the Gazzetta Ufficiale of 4 December 1923 no. 284) classified the roads into 5 classes. However, the 1923 reform did not resolve the issue about road management, and was, in the end, not implemented. The growing centralization of power of the fascist regime however led to the definitive affirmation of the centralist management model, which culminated in 1928 with the creation of the Azienda Autonoma Statale della Strada (AASS) (law 17 May 1928, n. 1094, Official Gazette n. 127 of 05/31/1928); which would later become ANAS in 1946.
Italy was the first country in the world to build a motorway, defined as a road reserved for fast traffic and motor vehicles only. The Autostrada dei Laghi ("Lakes Motorway"), was the first to be built in the world, to connect Milan to Lake Como and Lake Maggiore. It was devised by Piero Puricelli and was inaugurated in 1924. 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. Piero Puricelli decided to cover the expenses by introducing a toll. The Lakes Motorway is now part of the Autostrada A8 and Autostrada A9.
It was a futuristic project, because there were few cars circulating in Italy at that time. In 1923 there were a total of 53,000 cars circulating on Italian roads. In 1927 there were 135,900 cars circulating in Italy, corresponding to one vehicle for every 230 inhabitants, while today the ratio is 1 car for every 1.6 inhabitants. The most motorized Italian regions were those of northern Italy and central Italy, with Lombardy at the top of the list with over 38,700 cars in 1923, while at the bottom of the list was Basilicata with 502 cars. Milan was the Italian city in which the most car licenses were issued annually (12,000 in 1928), while the Italian region where the fewest licenses were issued was Sardinia, with only 632 new licenses.
In 1927 the Milan-Bergamo motorway was opened (part of the current Autostrada A4) whose concessionary company was owned by Piero Puricelli. In 1929 the Naples-Pompei motorway (part of the current Autostrada A3) was inaugurated, while in 1931 the Brescia-Bergamo motorway (part of the current Autostrada A4) was inaugurated. In 1932 the Turin-Milan motorway (part of the current Autostrada A4) was opened. In 1933 the Florence-Mare motorway (the current Autostrada A11) and the Padua-Venice motorway (part of the current Autostrada A4) were opened. In 1935, after 3 years of work, the Genoa-Serravalle Scrivia (the current Autostrada A7) was opened. 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.
The first official regulatory definition of a motorway dates back only to 1933 with Royal Decree no. 1740 of 1933 which defined a motorway as a road reserved for motor vehicles only. The legislative decree 17 April 1948, n. 547 then defined motorways "as those communication routes reserved for paid transit of motor vehicles, built and operated by the A.N.A.S. or by private individuals, with or without State contributions". In 1955 the Romita law was promulgated by the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies and it contemplated that the motorway network must be present in all regions. Also in 1955, work began on the Genoa-Savona and the doubling of other single carriageway motorways thanks to the financing law no. 1328/1955. The law of 7 February 1961, n. 59 defined 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".
Starting from the mid-1960s, ANAS also began to build a network of dual carriageways which often flanked or completed the routes of the state highways, but did not formally replace them. These roads, initially called in the most disparate ways, were subsequently cataloged under the name of new road ANAS (NSA), also followed by a progressive number. The law of 12 February 1958, n. 126 as amended by law no. 167 of 9 April 1971, classified roads as state (main communication and ordinary), provincial, municipal, local and military.
In 1961, by Law 24 July 1961 n. 729, the construction of the Adriatica (Autostrada A14), Naples-Canosa (Autostrada A16) and Caserta-Salerno (Autostrada A30) motorways was approved.Law 24 July 1961, n. 729. The same law provided for the construction of motorway junctions. Also in the 1960s, the first automatic pay stations were introduced for paying tolls only with coins. In 1964, the Autostrada A1 Milan-Rome was completed, the first dual carriageway motorway in the world with sections also in the mountains. In 1973 the first motorway in Sicily (the Autostrada A18) was inaugurated. In the 1970s the Grande Raccordo Anulare was classified as a motorway.