(Finance) – The September 21, 2024The Automobile Club of Milan and Varesetogether with Highways for Italywill celebrate the centenary of theMilan-Varese motorway (A8)the first highway in the world. This institutional celebration of a symbol of Italian progress intends to underline not only the historical value of a pioneering work, but also the visionary capacity of those who, like the engineer Peter Puricelliimagined an era in which the automobile would become the engine of social, economic and cultural change. Today, one hundred years later, it is essential to remember how the construction of the first highway was a milestone in the development of modern mobility; the A8 is the only Italian highway to boast 5 lanes, a symbol of constant evolution at the service of motorists.
An occasion of great importance that combines the memory historical with a reflection on the themes of sustainable mobility, road safety and technological innovation, issues that are increasingly central in our society.
The celebration will be a tribute to the engineer Piero Puricelli, a key figure in the panorama of Italian infrastructure. Born in Milan to a family of Varese origins for his merits in the field of public works, he was appointed Count of Lomnago by the King in 1940. At the beginning of his career, Puricelli was director of works of theMonza racetrackcompleted in just 110 days, a feat he himself called “the possibility of a life-giving example.” This project anticipated the construction of the A8, conceived as a road reserved exclusively for motor vehicles, at a time when the automobile was beginning to replace animal-drawn vehicles.
This highway, which since its construction has represented a symbol of progress and innovation, has also been the beating heart of the connection between Milan and Varese. As the President of the Lombardy Region underlined, Attilio Fountain“For me, the centenary of the Milan-Varese means thinking back to the past, living in the present and projecting into the future. As a Varese native who has lived a good part of his time in Milan, this highway has been a symbol of the growth and progress of an increasingly interconnected Lombardy, capable of facing and overcoming the challenges of progress and growth. A strip of asphalt that has always played an absolute leading role: as the first highway in history, as a link to the large Malpensa airport, as an access route to Expo 2015, now home to Mind. All that remains for us to do is wish the Milan-Varese another hundred years of glorious and successful history”.
Also the President of Automobile Club Milano, Geronimo LaRussawanted to underline the importance of this celebration: “Automobile Club Milano contributed to the initial capital for the establishment of the Società Anonima Autostrade for the execution of the project of the engineer Piero Puricelli – a member and for over a decade a member of the ACM Board of Directors, from 1920 to 1932 – ‘concerning the construction of a new automobile road that will connect Milan with Como, Varese and Lake Maggiore’, as we read in our history books. Today in Italy 90 percent of daily freight movements and 85 percent of passenger movements take place by road. The celebration of the 100th anniversary of the Milan-Varese, therefore gives us the opportunity to underline the foresight of the engineer Piero Puricelli who designed it, with the important contribution of the Automobile Club Milano”.
The celebration of the 100th anniversary of the A8 will not be limited to historical remembrance, but will be an opportunity to reflect on how themotorway can continue to evolve in the future, keeping the themes of environmental sustainability and safety road. The words of Piero Puricelli, who studied the opportunity to “build a road with technical and structural characteristics suitable for guaranteeing speed and safety”, resonate today more than ever, in a context in which mobility must be rethought to respond to global challenges.
In this context, Gregory MorettiDirector of Communications and Marketing of Autostrade per l’Italia, states: “On September 21st we celebrate the centenary of the opening to traffic of the A8 Milan – Varese, the first motorway ever built in the world which, thanks to a project by Autostrade per l’Italia, today also boasts the other great record of being the first 5-lane motorway in our country. This event gives us the opportunity to remember once again the close link between infrastructure and the social, economic and cultural development of the connected territories and the importance of ferrying our motorway network into the future, welcoming and anticipating the evolving needs of mobility. A mobility that must have as its cornerstones the sustainability and safety of those who travel, themes that as Aspi we promote daily also through our awareness campaigns on safety and that will accompany us throughout the busy program of centenary celebrations that, starting next week, will touch our entire network throughout the year”
Totem commemorativecreated by the artist Lorenzo Martinoli, which will be inaugurated in the service areas of Villoresi Ovest (Lainate – Milan -) and Brughiera Est (Castronno – Varese-), represent an indelible symbol of this extraordinary infrastructural adventure and will be dedicated to the history of the Milan-Varese, as well as to the themes of sustainable mobility and road safety. A work that testifies to the continuous commitment of the Automobile Clubs of Milan and Varese in promoting progress that takes into account the historical-cultural heritage, while ensuring innovation and development.
In this regard, the president of Automobile Club Varese, Joseph Redaellisaid: “One hundred years of the first motorway in the world are much more than a historical memory. They represent the continuous development of the idea of increasingly sustainable mobility, not separated from the search for ever greater safety, in the wake of the brilliant intuition of Eng. Piero Puricelli. With pride, Automobile Club Varese will remember him, during the ceremony on 21 September, as an illustrious honorary citizen of Varese for his over 40 years of residence and active participation in the life of Lomnago, unveiling the commemorative totem, a synthesis of his thought and its subsequent evolutions”.