The contract for Italy's new Pedemontana Lombarda highway is likely to be handled by a consortium headed by Austrian contractor 945 Strabag. The agreement will be finalised in September 2011. The consortium has a provisional deal for design and construction of the €2.3 billion 75km highway, which will connect Bergamo to Milan Malpensa airport, bypassing Milan. The consortium also includes Adanti, Grandi Lavori and Impresa Costruzioni Giuseppe Maltauro. The Pedemontana Lombarda highway project features a 65km stretch of highway extending from the Cassano Magnago autostrada (the A8) to the Osio Sotto autostrada (the A4) and includes a bypass of Como and Varese. The project also includes a 20km stretch of suburban main road, plus a series of road works that will link the new route with the local traffic network. Completion was originally planned for 2012 and the route is expected to handle 65,000 cars/day, while the total cost will be €4.3 billion including all the secondary links and additional work.
