Provincial road (Italy)
A strada provinciale, abbreviated SP, is an Italian road that is maintained by provinces or metropolitan cities. In Veneto from 2002, state highways downgraded as provincial roads are maintained by the regional company Veneto Strade. A provincial road is less important than a regional road, but more important than municipal roads. The types of provincial roads are the same as those of state highways.
Description
Before the entry into force of the new Italian Traffic Code the provincial classification of a road had to take place by decree of the Minister of Public Works; over the years, this has made the same procedures too centralized and therefore slower and more difficult, until the new highway code assigned the competence on classification to the regions.In the autonomous province of Bolzano, provincial roads are labelled with the word "Landesstraße". The name generally used is "Landesstraße - Strada Provinciale" or, for short, "LS SP".
In the Aosta Valley region, there are no provincial roads as the region has no provinces. An example is the SP50 of Colle del Nivolet, which ceases to be a provincial road when it enters the Aosta Valley territory.
Technical classifications
Provincial road is an administrative classification. The provincial road can be technically classified as strade extraurbane principali or as strade extraurbane secondarie or as strade locali extraurbane.If they cross inhabited centres with a population exceeding 10,000 inhabitants, they are roads under municipal jurisdiction and therefore urban. If they pass through centres or inhabited areas with a population equal to or less than 10,000 inhabitants, they are urban, but the responsibility lies with the province.
Legal definitions
According to a more extensive description provided by the law No. 126 12 February 1958, provincial roads were roads which:which has become, with the new Italian Traffic Code: