inaugurated the Autostrada dei Laghi ('Lakes Motorway'; now parts of the Autostrada A8 and
Autostrada A9), the first
motorway built in the world, 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. 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. ==Route==