No Italian Job Takes Longer Than This Bridge

ROME -- In America, politicians score points with voters by railing against bridges to nowhere. In Italy's election on Sunday and Monday, candidates are worked up about a non-bridge to somewhere.

Shortly after the birth of modern Italy in 1865, the government began preparing to build a two-mile span linking the island of Sicily to the mainland. The bridge, which was to connect the Sicilian city of Messina to the Calabria region on the toe of Italy's boot, was to be the physical symbol of the country's unity.

It has been in the planning ever since, and over the years,