thumb|right|250px|Map of the autostrade of Italy
The autostrade (; : autostrada, ) are roads forming the Italian national system of motorways. The total length of the system is about , as of 30 July 2022. There are also 13 motorway spur routes, which extend for .
Most of the Italian motorways have two lanes per direction/carriageway, but of the Italian motorway network have three lanes per direction/carriageway, have four lanes per carriageway, and only have five lanes per carriageway. The density is of of motorway for every of Italian territory.
Italy was the first country in the world to build motorways reserved for fast traffic and motor vehicles only. Other operators include ASTM, ATP, and Autostrade Lombarde in the north-west; Autostrada del Brennero, A4 Holding, , and in the north-east; , SALT, SAT, and Autocisa in the center; and CAS in Sicily.
On Italian motorways, the toll applies to almost all motorways not managed by Anas. There are two types of toll systems used on the autostrade: the "closed motorway system" (toll based on the kilometres travelled) or the "open motorway system" (flat-rate toll).
Italy was the first country in the world to build motorways reserved for fast traffic and for motor vehicles only. The Autostrada dei Laghi ('Lakes Motorway'), the first built in the world, connecting Milan to Lake Como and Lake Maggiore, and now parts of the Autostrada A8 and Autostrada A9, was devised by Piero Puricelli and was inaugurated in 1924.
It was a futuristic project, because there were few cars in circulation in Italy at that time. In 1923 there were a total of 53,000 cars circulating on Italian roads (between 1928 and 1929 there was a significant increase, as they went from 142,000 cars in circulation to 173,000 respectively). In 1927 there were 135,900 cars circulating in Italy, corresponding to one vehicle for every 230 inhabitants, while today the ratio is 1 car for every 1.6 inhabitants. However, the first regulatory definition dates back only to 1933 with Royal Decree no. 1740 of 1933 which defined autostrade as roads reserved for motor vehicles only. In 1939, a year before Italy entered into the World War II, the construction of the Genoa-Savona motorway (the current Autostrada A10) was approved.
Legislative decree 17 April 1948, n. 547 defines motorways "as those communication routes reserved for paid transit of motor vehicles, built and operated by the A.N.A.S. or by private individuals, with or without State contributions". In 1955 the Romita law was promulgated which provided that the motorway network must be present in all regions, work began on the Genoa-Savona and the doubling of single carriageway motorways began with financing law no. 1328/1955. The law of 7 February 1961, n. 59 defines motorways "as those communication routes exclusively reserved for the selected transit, usually for a fee, of motor vehicles and motorbikes, without level crossings or in any case unattended, which are recognized as such by decree of the Minister for Public Works".
In 1961, by Law 24 July 1961 n. 729, the construction of the Adriatica (Autostrada A14), Naples-Canosa (Autostrada A16) and Caserta-Salerno (Autostrada A30) motorways was approved. The same law provided for the construction of motorway junctions. Also in the 1960s, the first automatic pay stations were introduced for paying tolls only with coins. In 1964, the Autostrada A1 Milan-Rome was completed, the first dual carriageway motorway in the world with sections also in the mountains. In 1973 the first motorway in Sicily (the Autostrada A18) was inaugurated. In the 1970s the Grande Raccordo Anulare was classified as a motorway.
In 1975, law 492 was promulgated (in force until the 1990s) which provides for the blocking of motorway construction due to the oil crisis. Since 1981, toll tickets with mechanical perforation have been replaced with tickets with a magnetic stripe. In 2009 the Mestre bypass was opened (classified as Autostrada A4). Between 2014 and 2015, the Autostrada A35, Autostrada A36, Autostrada A58, Autostrada A59, and Autostrada A60 motorways were opened. In March 2022, the 3-lane section of the Autostrada A1 southbound between Barberino di Mugello and Calenzano was opened, which—although not officially—constitutes the natural continuation of the Variante di Valico; in this stretch the Santa Lucia tunnel is crossed which, at , is the longest 3-lane tunnel in Europe.
Characteristics
thumb|[[Autostrada A14 (Italy)|Autostrada A14]]
thumb|[[Autostrada A11 (Italy)|Autostrada A11]]
thumb|[[Autostrada A12 (Italy)|Autostrada A12]]
In order for a road to be classified as a motorway, various geometric and construction conditions must be satisfied and these, although very similar in basis (for example the width of the travel lanes must be ) are not constant: there are different technical-legal regulations for motorways built in urban or extra-urban areas.
The Italian traffic code defines the motorway as follows:
These characteristics, however, may not be respected (for example in the application of the dynamic lane) by virtue of the exceptions provided for by the Italian traffic code itself: