MILAN (AP) — Italy cleared the way Wednesday to build the world’s largest suspension bridge linking the Italian mainland with Sicily in a massive 13.5 billion euro ($15.5 billion) infrastructure project that has been long delayed by debates over its scale, earthquake threats, environmental impact and the spectre of mafia interference.

The Strait of Messina Bridge will be “the biggest infrastructure project in the West,” Transport Minister Matteo Salvini told a news conference in Rome, after an interministerial committee with oversight of strategic public investments approved the project.

Premier Giorgia Meloni said that the bridge “will be an engineering symbol of global significance.”

Salvini cited studies showing the project will create 120,000 jobs a year and accelerate growth in economically lagging southern Italy, as billions more in investments are made in roads and other infrastructure projects accompanying the bridge.

Preliminary work could begin between late September and early October, once Italy’s court of audit signs off, with construction expected to start next year. Despite bureaucratic delays, the bridge is expected to be completed between 2032-2033, Salvini said.

The Strait of Messina Bridge has been approved and canceled multiple times since the Italian government first solicited proposals in 1969. Premier Giorgia Meloni’s administration revived the project in 2023, and this marks the furthest stage the ambitious project — first envisioned by the Romans — has ever reached.

“From a technical standpoint, it’s an absolutely fascinating engineering project,” Salvini said.

The Strait of Messina Bridge would measure nearly 2.2 miles, with the suspended span reaching more than 2 miles, surpassing Turkey’s Canakkale Bridge, currently the longest, 4,189 feet.

With three car lanes in each direction flanked by a double-track railway, the bridge would have the capacity to carry 6,000 cars an hour and 200 trains a day — reducing the time to cross the strait by ferry from up to 100 minutes to 10 minutes by car. Trains will save 2/12 hours in transit time, Salvini said.

The project could provide a boost to Italy’s commitment to raise defense spending to 5% of GDP targeted by NATO, as the government has indicated it would classify the bridge as defense-related, helping it to meet a 1.5% security component. Italy argues that the bridge would form a strategic corridor for rapid troop movements and equipment deployment to NATO’s southern flanks, qualifying it as a “security-enhancing infrastructure.”