Italy is approaching a decisive milestone in the long-debated Strait of Messina Bridge project. Deputy Prime Minister and Infrastructure Minister Matteo Salvini announced that the final plans will be approved in the first week of August, clearing the way for construction to start before summer’s end. “We’ve been working on this for two and a half years, but the country has waited for it for centuries,” Salvini said, recalling that the idea of spanning the Strait dates back to Roman times. He described the bridge as “a cutting-edge engineering project” that will be “admired and studied by engineers worldwide”. According to Salvini, international collaboration is key, with as many as 170 American engineers involved, alongside experts from Japan, Denmark, Spain, and France. He also emphasized the project's role in promoting legality, calling it “a major anti-mafia operation”. Speaking ahead of next week’s CIPESS meeting (Italy’s Interministerial Committee for Economic Planning and Sustainable Development), Salvini underlined the strategic importance of the €13.5 billion project, saying it addresses the needs of over 5 million Sicilians and meets the expectations of European institutions.