The mayor of Rome announced a few days ago that the city would treat it as a declared war on the pits plaguing its streets. The issue isn’t trivial. Anyone who has lived in the Eternal City knows these holes, or buche in Italian, are a major annoyance for Romans and a persistent challenge for the capital’s infrastructure.
Similar problems appear in other cities, but in Rome the situation has spiraled into a public crisis. Poems and songs in several dialects have been composed to dramatize the problem, often with ironic humor. Residents frustrated by years of neglected maintenance and bureaucracy have even formed groups to take action themselves.
One notable development occurred in 2015 when the association Tappami (Save Me) emerged as a citizen movement willing to tackle the potholes. Led by a local businessperson, the group said its efforts were monumental. In the first five years, volunteers filled thousands of holes and laid hundreds of tons of cold asphalt. By 2020, even the Codacons consumer association began to highlight the problem, noting a hole every 15 meters across roughly 8,000 kilometers of city roads. The Roman newspaper Il Messaggero reported that a Japanese tire maker had launched a 30-year testing program along Rome’s streets, underscoring the ongoing impact of road conditions on daily life and mobility.
600 kilometers
Roberto Gualtieri, the mayor since November 2021, presented the road upgrade as a bold, long-term project. The plan aims to renew 80% of the city’s major streets and sidewalks by 2024, including essential rehabilitations. Estimates vary on whether the target covers 600 kilometers, but the city has completed about 210 kilometers to date.
Rome’s Public Works Office says the city is tackling a problem left unresolved for two decades. A consultant, Ornella Segnalini, explained that 800 kilometers of roads have been allocated for rehabilitation with a budget of 300 million euros dedicated to the program.
The council emphasizes that the Jubilee, slated for late 2024, has heightened urgency to address the issue. Segnalini noted that many interventions occur at night to minimize disruption to traffic, a change that residents have welcomed, even as skepticism about the overall convenience remains. More work is expected in the coming months, with plans to dig new underground tunnels, create pedestrian zones, and restore notable bridges like the Industria bridge, which could allow buses to pass after renovation if all goes well.
street tour
A Sanpietrini Plan, targeting Rome’s iconic black basalt paving stones, has been proposed. These stones, part of the city’s landscape since the 18th century, see chamfered sections redesigned in central areas such as Prati, the Via Giulia district, and the beloved Trastevere. The issue of cobblestones is not new; in 2005, then-mayor Walter Veltroni attempted to reduce cobblestones to improve traffic. Residents formed citizen committees to oppose the move, protests followed, and the plan was left incomplete.
The difficulties also stem from a long history of road mishaps. During the tenure of former mayor Virginia Raggi, traffic restrictions intensified, and buses faced frequent breakdowns tied to potholes. In 2016 officials warned that half of the buses could break down near potholes, leading to the creation of an emergency hotline known as 060-buche to report incidents.
The paradox is rooted in Rome’s ancient reputation for durable infrastructure. In antiquity, Romans built roads to move troops, goods, and people swiftly, with strict controls on commercial traffic. Yet with the fall of the empire, road planning and maintenance stagnated for centuries, leaving a legacy of modern-day challenges in the city’s streets.