Villa San Giovanni challenges bridge project over economic plan gaps and missing compensation
The municipality of Villa San Giovanni has renewed its objections to the Ponte sullo Stretto project, telling the chief executive of the company behind the bridge that key questions remain unanswered. Mayor Giusy Caminiti and her administration say the economic plan is incomplete, essential geological studies have not been carried out, and €4 million in compensation owed to the town for unfinished urban works is still not allocated.
What the town's officials say is missing
According to a statement released after a meeting with Pietro Ciucci, the chief executive of Stretto di Messina — the state-owned company managing the project — local officials have reviewed the opinion issued by Italy's Transport Regulation Authority (ART). The regulator's assessment, the town argues, confirms the absence of a reale piano economico — a genuine economic plan for the bridge.
The administration says it has also read the opinion from Italy's Superior Council of Public Works, a technical body that reviews major infrastructure. That council, the town notes, is calling for the same studies that local officials have been demanding before any construction contracts are signed. The council has approved the definitive design but attached over 100 prescriptions that must be addressed during the executive design phase.
The seismic and geological studies still outstanding
Villa San Giovanni insists that certain technical studies on the territory must be completed before, not during, the executive design phase. These include surveys of active and capable seismic faults in the area and the consistency of the terrain where foundations would be laid.
The Superior Council of Public Works has confirmed that an early phase of preliminary studies should precede executive design. However, the municipality argues that political decisions are being made without the scientific method that should ground them. Some of the geological and seismic data underpinning the project dates back decades, rendering it obsolete by current technical standards.
The €4 million dispute over the unfinished waterfront
Beyond technical concerns, the town says it has not received funds it is owed. The municipality claims €4 million remains unaccounted for — money that should come from compensation tied to an existing eyesore locally dubbed the "ecomostro". The incomplete railway variant and waterfront works have left the town with an unfinished concrete structure for over 12 years.
The funds were meant to complete the Lungomare and cover the railway variant. The town says this allocation was missing from the 2025 CIPESS deliberation — the decision by the Interministerial Committee for Economic Planning and Sustainable Development — and remains absent from the latest proposal filed.
Questions over the IROPI environmental document
The administration also says it has not been allowed to read the IROPI — the Imperative Reasons of Overriding Public Interest document. This procedure, provided for under the European Union's Habitat Directive, allows a member state to proceed with an infrastructure project even when it affects protected Natura 2000 sites, provided there is an overriding public interest and compensation measures.
The Italian government has approved the IROPI, but Villa San Giovanni argues that seeing the document is essential to determine whether the project violates European Union environmental and landscape law. The town says its objections have not been overcome.
The company's response on timelines
Speaking after the meeting in Villa San Giovanni, Pietro Ciucci said the CIPESS deliberation is expected by the end of October. He described that timeline as prudent and realistic, though he added that the company cannot impose deadlines on the interministerial committee.
Once approved, the deliberation returns to Italy's Court of Auditors for review. Ciucci said the company believes it has addressed what the accounting judges previously raised. The goal is to obtain registration by early December.
Work on preparatory sites — including base camps, service roads, ordnance clearance from the Second World War, and resolving underground utility conflicts — is due to begin by the end of 2026. The entire project, valued at €13.5 billion, has received a favourable assessment from the European Commission, which confirmed the economic framework on 4 August 2026 and ruled out the need for a new tender.
The bridge, if completed, is scheduled to open to traffic in 2034.
