Attention to the environment, security, services, artificial intelligence. These are the words around which the intervention revolved Louis Rothpresident of Autostrada Pedemontana Lombarda, who spoke today in Milan on the occasion of the conference “Towards the 2026 Olympic Games: the future opens its way”.
Luigi Roth and the speech during the conference in Milan
The President of APL focused attention on infrastructure innovation in our region:
“Lombardy can continue to be the driving force behind major events such as the Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics, if its economic, productive, infrastructural and institutional system is capable of working together in the interest of man and nature,” he began. For me, sustainability is not to stop building roads but to create projects of excellence that respect everyone’s quality of life”.
The new concept of “road”
Roth then focused on the concept of the road and the meaning that terms such as transport and travel have today:
“If we think about what a highway means today – Roth continued – we are facing a real revolution, the passage from the age of iron and concrete to a new era, that of artificial intelligence and data. A motorway is no longer just a transport and connection infrastructure, but a system of solutions to complete the travel experience with other services. In fact, the concept of transportation and travel has changed, which is why we are thinking of a system that communicates with the traveler and answers his questions. If at one point, in fact, there was talk of ‘information highways’ with the world of communication in mind, today our infrastructures, also made of iron and concrete, have the capacity to dialogue and communicate, putting computer security and safety of people In practice we are talking about a physical infrastructure that intersects with the digital one, improving the quality of service and work. Digital technology, in particular, changes the way maintenance is carried out and allows interventions to be carried out where necessary, improving predictive capacity and service, and optimizing management costs. Without ever forgetting the integration with the territory, with the environment and with people. In fact, a road is also a system that experiences the same challenges as all other systems, living and non-living, from climate change to the energy and ecological transition. We are facing a new paradigm, in which artificial systems are interdependent with man and nature”.
Pedemontana, “We are trying to minimize the impact on the territories”
“For this reason – concluded Roth – we are designing the new highway sections attentive to these new challenges, aware that the Pedemontana is an urban highway, since it crosses one of the most dense areas in Italy and Europe. We are trying to minimize the impact on the territories, which is why almost 80% of the work is in tunnels or trenches and is accompanied by a greenway project, while an energy community project is being developed. We are currently finalizing the executive project for the construction of the second section, which will be completed in 2026, after which we will build the last section of the connection with the A4 motorway.
