Considered a bright new page in road safety but more significantly, a big step forward towards the rejuvenation of urbanisation hit rural areas, the Astromeritis-Evrychou motorway brings the Marathasa, Pitsilia and Solea communities closer to the capital.
The fourth phase of the Nicosia-Troodos network axis is a breath of fresh easy access for thousands of residents following decades of demands on the vital need to secure faster transport to hospitals-a difference between life and death on many occasions-schools and other critical services.
Construction of the 11,3 km segment of the motorway begun in 2022 and was opened to the public yesterday, within a revised timeframe and the budget allocated, despite a number of challenges during project implementation by Cybarco-Pharmakas J.V, supervised by the Public Works Department.
Total cost was at 88 million 630 thousand euro.
The first ecological motorway across Cyprus, built with recycled asphalt, drastically reduces the time needed to travel between Nicosia and the Troodos mountains communities and crucially so, vice versa.
The use of recycled asphalt for the first time in a public work project, significantly reduces construction waste and promotes sustainable development.
For the capital dwellers, the mountainous regions of the island become more accessible than ever, further developing all year tourism, promoting local products, visiting small businesses or even encouraging permanent relocation.
Τhis two way street (pun intended) will hopefully become the focal point of rejuvenated business activity in rural areas and contribute towards effectively combatting urbanisation, the silent killer of mountainous communities for decades, as our countryside fades into the distance of maladjusted uneven cities.
The motorway includes four lanes of traffic, a grade separation junction in the Koutrafas area, a roundabout and a 750 metre valley bridge.
But this is not the end of the road. The Public Works Department has made a commitment towards improving a number of motorway exits in the near future, raising safety standards.
Beyond safety, the message is also loud and clear on the necessity of good services, digital infrastructure and permanent relocation incentives for both pensioners as well as young couples who seek a quieter life in the countryside.
Transport Minister Alexis Vafeades described the motorway as a ‘rural regeneration key’, a work concluded despite terrain challenges, as the road had to go through environmentally sensitive areas and practical difficulties due to international material supply shortages.
‘It is proof that government planning is not just restricted to urban centres but also moving to the countryside’, Vafeades added, announcing the last stage of the Nicosia-Troodos connection, the 17 km long Denia-Astromerities motorway, at an estimated cost of 100 million euro.