the “black jersey” in Agrigento

When we talk about Agrigento’s roads, unfortunately, when compared to other Sicilian, or even worse Italian, areas, our gaze inexorably turns to the lowest area of ​​the ranking. Commercial activity within the island and exports are conditioned by road, railway and port networks that are often old and therefore not very functional. This was discussed during some meetings in Rome between government representatives and Conflavoro. Representing the Sicilian entrepreneurs was the national vice president and regional president of Conflavoro Giuseppe Pullara.

And Conflavoro itself analyzed the data from the “White Paper” of Uniontrasporti and Unioncamere. The numbers that emerged speak of 14,700 kilometers of Sicilian road network where only 5 percent falls into the “motorway” category and 27 percent into the so-called “national importance” network managed by Anas.

Furthermore, the railway network is 58 percent electrified and of 1,396 kilometers only 16 percent is double track. The average age of three Sicilian trains is emblematic: 55 percent are 19 years old compared to the national average of 15.4 years. The railway networks of Ragusa and Trapani are among the worst performing in Italy (102nd and 94th place respectively). Road infrastructure constitutes the weakest category together with railways. In Sicily there are no 3-lane motorways or none at all, as in Agrigento and Ragusa.

And again in reference to Agrigento, it was found that its province has the worst road infrastructure considering the whole of the South and the islands and is in 99th place.

“With the bridge over the Strait – states Giuseppe Pullara – an annual gain for Sicily of around 6.5 billion euros and an increase of 7.4 percent in regional gross domestic product is estimated. Furthermore, an estimated 15 thousand jobs are created every year.

We are currently engaged with national and regional institutions to urge the adaptation of the entire Sicilian infrastructure system”.