CYPRUS SET FOR NEW MOTORWAY INTO TROODOS

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From inCyprus 20 August 2017

Plans to construct the long-awaited Limassol-Saittas motorway appear to have finally gotten off the ground with diggers set to begin works next year.

Construction for the new motorway had been put on ice at the Ministry of Communications and Works for almost a decade due to a number of different delays.

During a recent visit to Limassol, President Nicos Anastasiades pledges the local communities that the state budget for 2018 had set aside funds for the construction of the new motorway.

According to Department of Public Works official Xenia Kleopa, works will finally get underway in 2018 and at a cost of €160million for the public purse. The construction will also take place over three phases and is expected to be completed in two years.

News that the construction will finally get underway next work came as music to the ears of the communities in the Pitsilia region of the Troodos mountains.

Villagers had for years been calling for a motorway to be constructed saying that it was vital not only for trade but also for tourism.

“We consider this new motorway to be of paramount importance to the entire region not just in terms of logistics but also in terms of improving the road safety to and from the villages”, said Lefteris Periklis – who is the head of the union of Limassol communities.

The Limassol-Saittas motorway is also seen as an ideal to improve road safety – as the current road is seen as dangerous. The road accident and fatality record on that current stretch of road is very poor.

According to Kleopa, a feasibility study, which cost €820,500 and dates back to 2009, had been delayed due to a series of objections for various communities.

But now, things are on course and the study is almost complete.

According to the plans, the construction of the motorway heading into Troodos from Limassol will take place as follows:

1. Phase A1, Polemidia-Palodia, 3.7km (€22m)
2. Phase A2, Palodia-Alassa, 8km (€63m)
3. Phase A3, Alassa-Saittas, 10.8km (€75m)