The Italian road authority Anas (Azienda Nazionale Autonoma delle Strade Statali) is expecting a significant increase in traffic on Italy's roads and highways on the first weekend in July. An increased influx is expected from the large urban conurbations towards the vacation areas, the southern coastal regions, the northern mountain areas and the country's borders. Traffic is forecast to be particularly heavy this afternoon and in the early evening hours and again on Sunday afternoon and evening, when many travelers will start their return journey.
In order to keep traffic flowing as smoothly as possible, Anas is deploying personnel throughout the country, especially at roadworks that have not been removed. In Veneto, the state road 51 "Alemagna" at kilometer 95.200 in San Vito di Cadore (Belluno) remains closed for safety reasons. In Piedmont, traffic through the new Tenda tunnel will be restricted to one lane only. On the A19 "Palermo-Catania" highway in Sicily, the roadworks in Casteldaccia in the direction of Catania and near Bagheria will be closed until the evening. Considerable traffic congestion must be expected in the area around Rome. Among others, the Grande Raccordo Anulare di Roma, the A91 "Roma - Fiumicino", the SS148 "Pontina" and the state roads 1 "Aurelia" and 2 "Cassia" are affected.
In southern Italy, the largest traffic flows affect the main routes to tourist destinations, especially along the Adriatic coast, the Tyrrhenian coast and the Ionian coast. The border connections to France, Slovenia and Croatia, traffic along the Alpine arc and exits from larger cities are also likely to be heavily frequented. Particularly busy travel routes include the A2 "Autostrada del Mediterraneo", the state roads 106 "Jonica" and 18 "Tirrena Inferiore" in Calabria, the SS 131 "Carlo Felice" in Sardinia, the E45 (SS675 and SS3 bis) and the SS16 "Adriatica", which runs through Apulia, Molise, Abruzzo, Emilia-Romagna and Veneto.
In the north of Italy, the RA13 and RA14 highway feeder roads in Friuli-Venezia Giulia towards the national borders are particularly busy, as are the SS36 on Lake Como and the Spluga road in Lombardy, the SS45 in Val Trebbia in Liguria, the SS26 in Valle d'Aosta and the SS309 Romea between Emilia-Romagna and Veneto. Heavy vehicles over 7.5 tons are prohibited from eight to sixteen o'clock on Saturday and from seven to twenty-two o'clock on Sunday.
