Alpine logistics

Italy is a country of almost 60 million people. As a keystone member of the European Community, it depends heavily on road and rail communication with the rest of Europe. As the satellite map shows, the Alps present an almost perfect barrier between Italy and the rest of Europe. (This is why George Lucas was apparently so impressed by Hannibal's invasion of Italy across the Alps with elephants in tow).

Tourism alone is huge. I read on a BBC that one in ten tourists worldwide visit the Alps! Every few years Italy enforces speed limits more stringently (everything is relative) and causes a furor in Germany.

This also explains the network of massive tunnels piercing Mt. Blanc and others. This is very controversial. The tunnels are dangerous. Several have head-on traffic and the Mt. Blanc and St. Gotthard tunnels, the longest road tunnels in the world, have each been closed for months after horrendous fires following head-on accidents involving trucks. These long closures were documented to significantly improve quality of the nearby, fragile environment. And the European countries, including Italy, are much more politically "green" than the U.S.