The 1920s: Birth of the motorway

In 1923, the first projects and dreams began, giving rise to the idea of a road for cars connecting Naples to Salerno.

The meetings mostly take place at the Rotary Club premises and are discussed among a group of members. Among these, the following are worth mentioning: Antonio Landi, Luigi De Conciliis and Leopoldo De Lieto.

Before sketching a brief profile of the protagonists of this story, it is worth remembering the reality that the two provinces involved are experiencing. The Port of Naples generates an enormous amount of work; to dispose of it, over eight thousand carts a day are needed, travelling non-stop from Naples to Salerno. The two provinces exported pasta worth a total of 21,000,000 lire and approximately 90,000 quintals of goods. However, all this was done with means that were not up to the task, nor capable of increasing it. The reason is obvious: the lorries are horse-drawn, and a study from that period estimates that more than one hundred million lire are lost each year. This loss could be recovered by using lorries and transporting the goods by motorway.

This is the economic context in which our protagonists find themselves: Luigi De Conciliis (1872-1950), a lawyer with interests in finance and president of a company, Pittaluga, which owned numerous cinemas; Antonio Landi (1860-1938), a builder, responsible, among other things, for the Laziale and Vittoria tunnels, as well as numerous working-class neighbourhoods in Materdei; Leopoldo De Lieto (1891-1969), engineer, who built the stations of Mergellina, Campi Flegrei, Pozzuoli and Villa Literno.

Thanks to their mutual friend Guido Barendson, the three men met engineer Piero Puricelli, who was responsible for presenting the Master Plan for all Italian motorways to the government in 1925.

While the articles of association of Società Autostrade Meridionali were drawn up on 21 May 1925, the Naples-Salerno motorway was officially opened on 25 June of the same year: it was the first in southern Italy and the second in the country.

Naples experiences a historic day: on 25 June 1925 at 9:00 a.m., in Barra, the Minister of Public Works, the Honourable Giovanni Giurati, will take three ceremonial blows with a pickaxe to inaugurate the Naples-Salerno motorway. Immediately, a chorus of good wishes and congratulations rises. The pickaxe is the same one used at the inauguration of the Milan-Laghi motorway, engraved with the dates of the two events: 21 September 1924 and 25 June 1925.

1931–1940: Developments before the Second World War

To better understand this new decade, it is important to bear in mind what Chairman Giovanni Niutta told shareholders: “Currently, to access the motorway, you have to travel three kilometres along a road crossed by eight railway level crossings. All the traffic from the industrial area of Naples is concentrated on this road, traffic that is becoming more intense every day and will require new crossings that are essential to the needs of the rapidly growing area. Therefore, we believe that the plan already drawn up for the extension of the motorway towards the province of Salerno should be combined with that of easier and more dignified access to Naples.” In fact, Il Mattino writes about the problem in question, given that there are economic aspects that should not be underestimated for those times: we are talking about an expense of around 130 million lire. In simple terms, it is necessary to move the Nola – Baiano railway and the Circumvesuviana to the sole, declared purpose of abolishing level crossings. The new motorway entrance was ready by the end of June 1936 and opened to the public on 2 July of the same year. The toll booth consisted of an elegant, two-storey oval building in the Novecento style. It completed the project of the company’s presidency in Naples.

President Tosti di Valminuta tells Umberto di Savoia that ‘this motorway, due to the areas it passes through and the archaeological sites it reaches, is undoubtedly the most beautiful and evocative in Italy, perhaps even in the world’…. ‘From July 1936 onwards, the toll booths in Naples (via Galileo Ferrarsi or San Giovanni) officially became the gateway to the Vesuvius area and the Salerno area centred on Pompeii. The increase in traffic fully reflected the growth in private motorisation and the socio-economic conditions of the time, which were also linked to the military events in our country’.

In the early years, individual traffic was low, while the percentage of tourist coaches, i.e. collective traffic, was high. From 734 vehicles passing through in 1935, the number fell to 584 the following year.

1941–1950: The war and the slow recovery

War was the dominant feature of the decade. However, it is possible to reconstruct the events of that period by rereading the minutes drawn up by Chairman Luigi Tosti for the board of directors: The management of our motorway came to an end on 8 September 1943, when the Germans took full possession of it and vandalised the toll booths, bridges, underpasses and forecourts. This destruction continued until their retreat on 29 September in the face of the victorious advance of the Allied Forces. From the investigations we have carried out, a large part of the motorway network is impassable: many bridges have been demolished, the toll booths and the head office have been looted, with the removal of furniture and fittings from our office; the safes have been broken into and the valuables inside, worth approximately 10,000 lire, have been stolen; the archive, electrical and telephone systems, internal and external fixtures, and most of the wooden floors have been removed or destroyed, leaving only the external walls of the headquarters in Via Galileo Ferraris, with the roof also partially destroyed. Unless further updates are provided, these damages are detailed in the description and estimate we had carried out and amount to approximately 16 million 720 thousand lire.”.

It should be emphasized that the highway is subjected to terrible bombing; in particular, the one that destroys the San Giovanni a Teduccio viaduct at the hands of the Germans, who are trying in every way and by every means to slow the American advance. Add to this the fact that, from Tosti, the motorway was requisitioned by the Germans from October 1943 until 1946.

During this period, asphalt saw only military vehicles, first German, then Anglo-American. The Allied Forces took possession of the highway on October 3 and, having carried out the most important, urgent and indispensable temporary works, reserved traffic exclusively for their needs, inhibiting any transit of private vehicles. In the current year 1944, to ensure the continuity of Allied traffic, the civil engineering department is carrying out ordinary and extraordinary maintenance work both on the road surface and in response to the further damage caused by mud washes following the eruption of Vesuvius.

We have to wait until April 30, 1945 to see the activity resume. It is on the occasion of the first assembly after the Liberation that the new President of the Society, Prof. Epicarno Corbino told shareholders: “Our highway has become increasingly necessary for the traffic needs of the Allied Forces, which still possess it today, continuing to prohibit its transit by private vehicles.”

1951-1970: The years of the “economic miracle”

The 1950s marked a decisive turning point in the structure and structure of Napoli-Salerno. In fact,between 1952 and 1955, the share capital was increased from 20 million to 1.12 billion.

At the same time, the frequency of traffic on the highway is checked, which has increased sevenfold compared to 1929 (no more than 800 vehicles per day).

There is a need for more safety and speed, and Barendson, general manager of the Society since 1930, proposes an expansion project: a 14-metre-wide motorway. The cost is one and a half billion lire.

Between 1956 and 1958, the problem of doubling and extending the motorway towards Salerno, to bring it closer to Naples, was addressed. The project is carried out by engineer. Luigi Tocchetti, considered the fourth father of the highway for his work in 33 years. Councilor since 1952, vice president since 1966, and president since 1974; he has been honorary president since 1982.

The widening will take place from San Giovanni to Teduccio at the turnoff for Pompeii and Castellammare; all in record time: the first section opened to traffic in 1958, two months ahead of schedule.
The share capital increased to €1.6 billion, while the majority shareholding package was acquired by a Milan-based financial company, “La Centrale”. In 1958 the capital reached three billion. In 1959, work began on the Pompeii-Salerno extension.

Increasing emphasis is being placed on the importance of this connecting route, which in some respects represents the symbol of a rediscovered economy where even the south can have its say. The 1960s will confirm this trend.

1961-1970: Pompei-Salerno goes into operation

In 1964, the Pompeii-Salerno extension came into operation, just five years after work began. Meanwhile, traffic continues to increase and so does the number of users.

We are beginning to think of a series of connections between the same motorway and the Vesuvian coast. The ring road will be built between 25 April 1968 and 1975. On the same day, work begins on the birth of the Alfa Sud.

1971-1980: The highway continues its development

Between 1973 and 1974 the oil crisis made itself felt significantly. Since 1975, traffic on the most beautiful highway in the world has increased from 27,630,000 in 1971 to 35,365,000 in 1980.

In 1975, work began on the third lane of the Naples-Pompei-Castellammare line, all the way to Salerno; in the same year, the “maxi-ticket office” in Barra began operating.

In 1976, due to continuous rain, a section of rock face broke off from Mount San Liberatore in Vietri and blocked the road.

ANAS agrees to the construction of a “paramass” tunnel of approximately 100 linear meters. Traffic is reopened in a few days.

 

1981-1990: The terraces on Vietri sul Mare

Between 1981 and 1990, a number of programmed objectives are achieved. The Salerno-Portici exit is closed; the Portici-Bellavista station is split into Bellavista Nord and Bellavista Sud. The Nocera Inferiore Nord station is built.

At the height of Vietri, where the landscape becomes almost unreal, the idea was born to create four tree-lined squares, four “terraces” overlooking one of the most beautiful views in the world. Architectural solutions that integrate the street with the nature that hosts it.

Also in the 1980s, the collection system was developed; it is a system that allows the user to communicate, via intercom, to report any anomaly with the Barra Monitoring Center, through data transmission over a fiber optic cable.

Another new feature is the entry into operation of the steel safety road, located in the centre of the road. All of this is aimed at ensuring traffic and safety for the future.

The restructuring plan concerns two problems. One concerns the Nocera Inferiore junction; the other concerns the doubling of the Naples-Pompeii section.

Autostrade Meridionali SpA was granted the concession, which expired in 2012.

1991-2010: Infrastructure upgrades

The modernization of the highway continues. The most important works concern reinforcement work on the pavements, bridge joints, adaptation and completion of guardrails, as well as new fencing and protective nets on the viaducts.

A further boost was given to assistance and security, with a patrol system by the Highway Police supplemented by the presence of CRI ambulances, ACI vehicles and a helicopter service with medical personnel on board for prompt intervention.

In 1995, the Ponticelli junction was built towards Naples.

In 1996 the section from San Giovanni to Barra was doubled.

In 1998 the headquarters moved to the Naples Business Centre Isola A/7.

On 1° July 1999, the new Torre Annunziata Nord junction was inaugurated, positioned between the Torre del Greco and Torre Annunziata Sud junctions. For 2000, the year of the Jubilee, improvements to the access points of Pompei Scavi, Pompei and Castellammare were studied.

In 2000, work also began on the Torre del Greco, Pompeii, and Torre Annunziata Sud junctions, modernizing the Castellammare station, and building the 3rd Torre Annunziata-Castellammare lane.

Subsequently, the 3rd lane will be completed up to Torre Annunziata Sud, the new Portici-Ercolano, Angri, and Pagani junctions, and the “VESUVIO SUD” tunnel will be built, leading from San Giorgio to Torre del Greco.

The fiber optic system will be introduced: millions of data and images traveling alongside the driver on the highway. Information and updates on traffic and weather conditions, as well as toll automation. With the fiber optic network, all data is conveyed to a center that controls, processes, prevents, intervenes, and retransmits trunk directions and highway stations from the center to the outskirts. All aimed at making the highway safer and the service more efficient.

2022: Transfer of the concession to SPN SpA

Starting from 1° April 2022, the concession for the management of the A3 Naples-Pompei-Salerno motorway was transferred to the company “Salerno Pompei Napoli SpA”, following the tender procedure for the re-entrustment of the previous concession that expired in 2002 to the company Autostrade Meridionali SpA

The new Convention has a duration of 25 years and provides for the implementation of new investments of €389.2 million, with an investment program that includes the adaptation of motorway viaducts, the progressive replacement of first-installation barriers, and the modernization of the facilities.

The toll: history and evolution

Initially, the collection along the motorway networks is of a flat-rate type for sections. Subsequently, until the 1980s, tax collection took place by “fiscal power-useful flow”.

Between 1981 and 1984 the “step-axle” system was introduced. In 1982, the Viacard system was introduced, with a prepaid card on the scale and in C/C. In 1994, Fast Pay joined Viacard. Telepass is then introduced.

final considerations

We have seen how CAMPANIA has moved from horse- or mule-drawn carriage traffic to the second Italian motorway after the Milan-lakes, in chronological order.

A dream that has become a reality over the years, allowing industry professionals to believe in a regional economy as well as an Italian and European one.