European Commission unimpressed with plan for Paphos-Polis highway

[Paphos Life]

The government needs to consider all possibilities before it decides to turn the Paphos-Polis road into a motorway, bird welfare group BirdLife Cyprus said on Monday.

The group was responding to the European Commission’s refusal to green light the government’s application for approval of the new highway for ‘Important Reasons of Overriding Public Interest’ (IROPI) which it had submitted for “urgent reasons”.

The commission pointed out that the government had presented no alternatives for upgrading the existing road and said the new highway does not meet the necessary criteria for economic viability.

The commission also took into consideration the view of the auditor-general Odysseas Michaelides who in 2017 said the proposed road is a financially unviable project and a waste of taxpayer money.

The government had cited the need to improved access to remote areas and improved road safety as the main justification for building the highway.

The commission however responded that improved access to such areas does not necessarily justify the construction of a highway.

Read the article and chat about it below...

[Dominic]

For further information on the proposed motorway see these blogs:

https://www.paphoslife.com/blog/polis-motorway-part-1

https://www.paphoslife.com/blog/polis-motorway-part-2

Personally I think the concept of making the existing B7 wider is a complete non-starter.

[Diocletian]

I would agree with you there Dominic.

[trevnhil]

I thought I put this post on early this morning ?? Was there a problem with it ??

[Dominic]

From the "News Story" thread pinned to the top of the page:

If you have a news story that is relevent to Cyprus as a whole or Paphos, then please share it here. If the link is from a known source, I may incorporate it into our main news section and delete your post to avoid two converstaions. This is because when I add a story to the main news section on the website, it automatically generates a post on the forum.

_____

In practice, if the thread already has replies, it remains, and I rejig the links accordingly. When a post doesn't have replies though, it is easier to just delete it.

I have to explain this every six months or so.

[trevnhil]

Ah, I will know better in the future... Sorry you have had to explain it once again ..

[Dominic]

That's ok. I am as forgetful as the rest of you.

Today I had to write out a list of things I am doing. One of them involves sorting out file locations, and is a long process. If I forget half way through, it will be a total mess. So I have left my self an electronic post-it note telling me what I am doing...

[mike strand2]

There are sections of the existing road that could be widened to provide overtaking lanes (uphill mainly) that would help reduce the number of accidents. What's really necessary though is for people to drive more considerately and abide by the rules of the road.

[Dominic]

And what happens to the existing traffic while that work goes on? Look at what happened when they tried to close the road near Giolou. And what happened when B7 traffic last had to get directed through Polemi and Kallepeia? It was a nightmare. That road just isn't designed for big lorries coming in one direction, let alone both.

[Ferret]

As EU have now said no, can Cyprus over rule them and still build this motorway?
What is needed is to widened places along the road and proper road enforcement by the police, as the standard of driving is the real problem, not to throw massive amounts of money at something that is not needed. The amount of traffic everyday is very low and does not call for massive road structures in lovely countryside. To only propose to build a single lane either way at first with eventually going to dual carriage way if needed is daft and especially at such cost which this island cannot afford.
Dominic ...... you say up grading parts of the B7 will cause villages problems but the motorway will also do this as it is proposed to go very near villages, so will also cause them problems for getting in and out of their homes. Any upgrading or building of the motorway will affect people one way or another one.