Thousands of people marched in the Sicilian city of Messina on Saturday to protest a government plan to build a bridge that would connect the Italian mainland with Sicily in a massive 13.5-billion-euro ($15.5 billion) infrastructure project.

Protesters staunchly oppose the Strait of Messina Bridge project over its scale, earthquake threats, environmental impact and the specter of mafia interference.

The idea to build a bridge to connect Sicily to the rest of Italy has been debated off and on for decades but always delayed due to these concerns. The project, however, took a major step forward when a government committee overseeing strategic public investments approved the plan this week.

Transport Minister Matteo Salvini, the project’s main political backer, called it “the biggest in

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