The Lueg viaduct, a long bridge traversed by northbound travelers on the Brenner axis shortly after entering Austria from Italy, has been under extraordinary maintenance since April 2023. From 2025, traffic will be limited to one of its four lanes for a couple of years, exacerbating the already challenging conditions for vehicles, particularly heavy ones, traveling between Italy and Germany. On March 8, 2024, the Trentino Chamber of Commerce raised concerns about this issue.
Narrowing traffic to a single carriageway will cause extensive queues, with repercussions across several economic sectors, including freight transport, wholesale and retail trade, tourism, industry, and crafts. In 2023, goods valued at over one hundred billion euros passed through this artery. According to Mauro Bonvicin, Vice President of the Trentino Chamber of Commerce, the restriction at the Lueg viaduct could decrease this value by up to twenty percent.
Andrea Pellegrini, President of Fai Conftrasporto Trentino-South Tyrol, believes that "the only solution to mitigate the impact of this closure is to obtain nighttime transit permission for heavy vehicles. The smooth flow of freight traffic is crucial for the Italian and European production system. Urgent action by the relevant authorities is necessary to prevent traffic blockages and their negative economic consequences."
On the same day, some Italian hauliers associations and Uniontrasporti wrote to the Executive Vice-President of the European Commission, Margrethe Vestager, the Transport Commissioner, Adina Vălean, and the Commissioner for the Internal Market, Thierry Breton, expressing their support for the Italian government's request to initiate infringement proceedings against Austria due to the restrictions imposed on the transit of commercial vehicles along the Brenner axis.
