There are some roads you will find that are great. But, no doubt, to get to and from those roads you will have to traverse some truly shocking ones. The case is as true in Italy, it seems, as in the UK.
Of course, we live in a period of time where no one has any money apart from the people who will only spend the money they have if that action will make them more money down the road. For car drivers, this leads to a frustrating (and occasionally expensive) experience. For motorcycle riders, though, the reality is dangerous. Come across a big enough pothole on a road you don't know inside-out and the result can be disastrous.
We know from recent government proposals - central as well as local - that motorcycles are figuring seemingly less and less in their thinking, so perhaps it is not a surprise that bikers' complaints about road standards seem to go mostly ignored.
Evidently, the business of fixing roads in the UK is not one that has a great return on investment, otherwise they would be in a better condition. Or, maybe, the business of fixing roads in the UK is one that has such a tremendous return on investment that keeping the roads in a bad condition is financially beneficial.
Whatever the case, the reality is that using the roads in the UK is in some cases annoying, some cases frustrating, and some cases simply dangerous.
It is not a problem that is specific to the UK, though. In Italy, they are looking to improve the conditions of the roads, and the cost will be monumental.
In 2022, ‘billions’ seem to be reported so much that ‘millions’ seem almost insignificant. Perhaps that is more of an indication of the widening inequality in modern society. But, when the Azienda Nazionale Autonoma delle Strade (Anas), which is like the Italian version of National Highways in the UK, puts out tenders for jobs totalling €2 billion, as Moto.it reports, to fix the roads, clearly the problem is significant.
Anas’ job is to build and maintain motorways in Italy, and clearly they have major work ahead of them to fulfil that role at the moment.
However, on the positive side for the Italians, their national highways agency at least appears to be working to the target of making the roads better, rather than spending absurd amounts of money on ‘smart’ systems that increase congestion.
