Athienou Municipality has built a miniature road network — complete with traffic signs and a roundabout — to teach young children how to navigate traffic safely, in a project developed in cooperation with the Traffic Police Department.
The Road Safety Education Park features small roads where children ride bicycles and follow real traffic rules. It opens on 22 April.
The park sits next to two early childhood facilities: the Athienou Public Kindergarten, which serves children aged four to six, and the Community Childcare Centre, for children up to the age of three.
Before the opening ceremony, children from both will receive a briefing from the neighbourhood police officer.
Mayor Kyriakos Kareklas told Phileleftheros the park was designed to be used by all children in the municipality. “It is a green space that Athienou Municipality has turned into a road safety education park,” he said. “Before the opening, the neighbourhood police officer will speak to the children so they understand exactly how it works.”
Bicycles will be available for children who do not have their own. “The bicycles for the children were purchased with a donation from the previous government and are kept at the childcare centre,” Kareklas said.
The park was originally planned for the childcare centre site but was relocated to an adjacent space after moisture problems arose. The move also allowed the park to be opened to a wider group of children beyond those attending the centre, Kareklas added.