A new large, fully equipped and secure rest area for industrial vehicles will be built in Castelceriolo, on the outskirts of Alessandria, between the Alessandria Est tollgate on the A21 Turin–Piacenza motorway and the industrial zone of Spinetta Marengo. The initiative is promoted by the Spanish Padrosa group and forms part of the development of the European Nection network of safe truck parking areas. The plan was presented in late January 2026 to the Municipality of Alessandria, where the developer’s technicians outlined the layouts, the technical features of the project and the associated infrastructure works.
The facility will cover a total area of around 75,000 square metres, largely dedicated to parking for industrial vehicles. The project includes 352 truck parking spaces, with several specialised bays: nine for vehicles carrying flammable substances, eight reserved for dangerous goods and ten for refrigerated food transport, equipped with electrical connections to power refrigeration units. According to the Nection project data sheet, the Alessandria site is aiming for Gold certification as a Safe and Secure Truck Parking Area, in line with EU Regulation 2022/1012, which sets stringent requirements for fencing, access control, video surveillance, lighting and management procedures.
Alongside the parking area, a services building of around 1,700 square metres is planned. The building will include a restaurant with seating for 120, a minimarket, a laundry, offices and facilities for hauliers, with showers, separate toilets, changing rooms and rest areas. These amenities comply with European guidelines for SSTPAs, designed to guarantee minimum levels of comfort and safety during mandatory rest stops under drivers’ hours and rest time regulations.
The project also includes a car park for light vehicles with 91 parking spaces, 59 of which will be open to the public. Nine electric vehicle charging points are planned, along with two spaces reserved for people with disabilities. This element broadens the role of the development, which is not conceived solely as infrastructure serving freight transport but as an integrated service hub within the local area.
On the infrastructure side, improvements are planned for provincial road 82, the link between Spinetta Marengo, Castelceriolo and Sale, used by both local traffic and vehicles heading for the Alessandria Est tollgate. The works include resurfacing the carriageway and upgrading access to the new hub, with the aim of organising heavy vehicle flows more efficiently and reducing the impact of traffic on nearby residential areas.
Environmental and compensatory measures represent a significant part of the project. Plans include the planting and reinforcement of green areas covering around 30,000 square metres north of the Alessandria rail yard, the afforestation of an area of about 5,700 square metres near the parking site and the integration of green spaces within the development itself. This approach mirrors that adopted in other Nection projects, such as the Ronchis parking area in Friuli Venezia Giulia, where rest areas are presented as infrastructure aligned with ESG criteria, featuring solutions aimed at reducing energy consumption, LED lighting and provision for photovoltaic systems.
The surrounding area is characterised by a high concentration of logistics initiatives. In the D5 and D8 zones of Spinetta, urban redevelopment has encouraged the establishment of new logistics hubs, including the expansion of the Gruppo Pam hub and the launch, in 2024, of Amazon’s supply centre, the first of its kind in Italy, with an investment of around €120 million and up to 700 employees expected within three years. To the north, the masterplan for the Alessandria freight yard envisages investments of approximately €370 million, including the upgrading of rail infrastructure to accommodate 750-metre trains and new road links to the A26 and A21 motorways.
The Spanish Padrosa group is one of the most active operators in Europe in the development and management of secure truck parking facilities. Founded more than a century ago in Catalonia and southern France in the transport and mobile crane sector, the group has gradually expanded its operations, building an industrial network of high-security rest areas. This activity is now organised under the Nection brand, described as a pan-European network of Safe and Secure Truck Parking Area-certified facilities.
The Nection network is managed by Padrosa Management, the group company specialising in secure rest areas. Its industrial plan provides for the development of 48 certified SSTPA sites across several European countries, including Italy, Spain, France, Slovenia and the Netherlands, with phased growth along the Ten-T corridors. The strategy is based on a homogeneous network, directly managed by the owner, to ensure a consistent user experience for transport companies using these facilities as operational bases along Europe’s main transport routes.
The first Italian example of this strategy is the Nection parking facility in Ronchis, in the province of Udine, developed along the A4 motorway between Palmanova and Latisana, at the intersection of the Mediterranean and Baltic–Adriatic Ten-T corridors. The site offers 301 truck parking spaces, full services for drivers and has obtained Gold-level SSTPA certification under European regulations. The project was co-funded by the European Union through the CEF programme and is regarded as a replicable model along the main international traffic arteries.
P.R.
