April 9, 2025 – Turin, Italy – Motorists in Italy’s Piedmont and Liguria areas are more and more vocal about being held “hostage” by relentless freeway building, and now their regional leaders are pushing Autostrade per l’Italia for toll sales space reductions to ease the burden. The A10 and A26 motorways, very important arteries linking Turin, Genoa, and the Ligurian coast, have turn into snarled with building websites, turning routine journeys into hours-long ordeals and prompting a bipartisan name for aid as tourism and commerce endure.
The chaos stems from a years-long overhaul of Liguria’s getting old tunnels and viaducts, accelerated after the 2018 Morandi Bridge collapse uncovered systemic neglect. On the A10 Genoa-Ventimiglia, 11 building zones at present disrupt site visitors, with tailbacks stretching as much as 14 kilometers between Varazze and Savona, per Autostrade’s real-time information. The A26, connecting Piedmont to the coast, fares little higher—5 energetic websites between Ovada and Masone have slashed lanes and slowed journey to a crawl. “It’s a nightmare,” mentioned Marco Rossi, a Turin-based truck driver. “A two-hour haul now takes 5, and we’re nonetheless paying full tolls for half a street.”
Piedmont Governor Alberto Cirio and Liguria’s Giovanni Toti have seized on this frustration, collectively demanding a toll low cost framework from Autostrade, Italy’s dominant freeway operator. “Residents and companies shouldn’t bear the price of infrastructure failures they didn’t trigger,” Cirio argued in a press convention yesterday, flanked by Toti. Their proposal: a 50% toll discount on affected stretches till all main works conclude, projected for late 2026. Toti, citing Liguria’s tourism lifeline, added, “We’re shedding guests who’d fairly fly than sit in queues—reductions are the least Autostrade can do.”
The development, mandated by the Ministry of Infrastructure after inspections revealed structural dangers in over 40 tunnels, has been a double-edged sword. Security upgrades—just like the €2 billion revamp of the A10’s Monte Giugo tunnel—are vital, but the simultaneous works have throttled site visitors. Autostrade experiences over 60% of Liguria’s community is underneath renovation, with closures and single-lane stretches routine. Final weekend, a 10-kilometer jam close to Recco left drivers fuming, some abandoning vehicles to stretch legs or fetch water from Civil Safety outposts.
The toll low cost push isn’t new—previous protests gained non permanent aid in 2020—however it’s gaining traction as financial stakes rise. Piedmont’s producers, reliant on A26 freight, report delays costing tens of millions, whereas Liguria’s ports and resorts bleed income. “I paid €18 to crawl 50 kilometers,” lamented Elena Bianchi, a Savona store proprietor. “It’s theft.” Autostrade’s tolls, calculated by kilometer and car class (e.g., €9 per 100 km for a automotive), stay full-price regardless of diminished service, fueling the “freeway hostage” narrative.
Autostrade has resisted blanket reductions, citing monetary pressure from its €8 billion security overhaul, partly funded by tolls. But, strain is mounting. A petition on X, tagged #ScontoSubito, has 15,000 signatures, and MPs from each areas plan to lift the difficulty in Rome this week. The corporate supplied a obscure nod, saying it’s “evaluating focused measures” with the Ministry, however previous concessions—like free tolls throughout 2021 gridlocks—set a precedent.
For now, Piedmont and Liguria’s drivers stay caught—actually and figuratively—praying their leaders’ plea turns gridlock into goodwill. As Cirio put it, “If we’re hostages, at the least decrease the ransom.”
