Measures and interventions to improve vehicle traffic in Thessalonikiduring the period of its construction fly over, announced the Minister of Infrastructure and Transport Christos Staikouras and the competent deputy ministers, after a broad meeting, in the morning, at the Governor’s Office, with the participation of self-governing and official actors.

“Today we are trying with persistence and methodical planning, knowing that there are no magic recipes to face these challenges and improve the quality of life of the residents of Thessaloniki” said Mr. Staikouras and added: “The fly over is a useful and necessary project for the city , as was recognized today by all the participants. The contractual obligations have started from the day of signing the project contract and concern a period of thirty years. The delivery of the project is set for May 14, 2027.”

Mr. Staikouras referred to the actions that have been taken and the contracts that have been signed by the ministry to mitigate the impacts during the construction of the project and announced the main axes of the policy that will be followed to normalize traffic and solve problems arising due to construction works.

“First, under the coordination of the Region of Central Macedonia – which has the operational units that provide direct information on traffic regulations in the region – the preparation of implementation studies to mitigate the impact on the city is underway. It will be followed by a consultation in the coordinating body, under the minister of the interior responsible for Macedonian Thrace issues. The contribution of the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport will concern the immediate issuance, by the General Directorate of Transport Infrastructure, of decisions approving the studies, which will, however, come from this mechanism, in accordance with the provisions of the recently passed laws. Within the next few days, a relevant decision is expected to be signed to determine the roads, on which the relevant extraordinary procedure will be applied, based on the recommendation of the scientists of the transport institute of EKETA, who receive – as we heard today, real time data on the movements on the peripheral and main roads of the city, producing signaling programs”.

The minister also referred to contracts that have been signed with the aim of decongesting the roads to facilitate traffic. Specifically, Mr. Staikouras emphasized:

  • On February 14, the contract for the lease of parts of the former Karatas camp was signed with the National Defense Fund to ensure a corridor for ambulances to hospitals 424 and Papageorgiou, and the construction of the road by the private partner will follow.
  • On February 16, a decision was signed to assign responsibilities to Egnatia Odos for the operation of the internal ring road, from junction K5 to junction K12, during construction of the project.

Mr. Staikouras added that the issue of continuous monitoring of the project’s impacts was discussed and will be evaluated, saying:

“Practically, this means that there will be crane vehicles, so that if it is necessary to remove a car blocking the road on the ring road, while there will also be vehicles that will monitor the road, so that traffic is not obstructed, and there will also be a road assistance on a 24-hour basis’.

The minister added that meetings have already been held between GAIAOSE and Hellenic Metro with the Municipality of Thessaloniki, for spaces that are released or may be released, for the construction of outdoor parking spaces under the responsibility of the Municipality, with the assistance of the ministry, where required, and with informing all agencies about the progress of the project by the coordinating body.

He also underlined that the reinforcement of the OASTH, with the addition of 110 electric buses, is underway in the second quarter of 2024, while today the contract for the creation of their parking and charging area is being signed at the Stavroupoli depot.

He noted that the tender for the assignment of bus lines – vehicle, driver and maintenance – to 250 buses, ten years younger, for the next ten years, in Thessaloniki, is also progressing.

Also, the second tender is planned for the supply of 750 anti-pollution technology for Athens and Thessaloniki and 225 of them are intended for Thessaloniki. Through ASEP, the strengthening of the OASTH with 150 contracted young drivers was completed.

Mr. Staikouras added that the Ministry of the Interior is investigating the possibility of extending the contracts and the possibility of employing an additional forty drivers, until the end of 2024, when the Thessaloniki metro will operate.

The meeting, chaired by Mr. Staikouras, was attended by the Deputy Minister of Infrastructure Nikos Tachiaos, the Deputy Minister of Transport Christina Alexopoulou, the Deputy Minister of Interior (Macedonia and Thrace) Stathis Konstantinidis, the regional governor of Central Macedonia Apostolos Tzitzikostas, the mayor of Thessaloniki Stelios Angeloudis, the president of PEDKM Ignatios Kaitezidis, the director of Thessaloniki Traffic Paraskevi Papageorgopoulou, the deputy regional governor of Central Macedonia Paris Billias, the coordinator of the Prime Minister’s office in Macedonia Elena Sokou, the coordinator of the Prime Minister’s office in Macedonia Ioannis Papageorgiou, the president and CEO of OASTH Konstantinos Tagiris, the president of the administration of OSETH Ioannis Kalogeroudis, the managing director of OSETH Ioannis Toskas, the director of the office of the deputy minister of the interior (Macedonia and Thrace) Kostas Dimos, the representative of the Institute of Sustainable Development and Transport Network IMET/EKETA Georgia Affantopoulou, the member of the managing committee of the construction consortium Konstantinos Lyssaridis, the vice-president and managing director of METKA – ATE Dinos Benroubi, the president of Egnatia Odou Giorgos Konstantopoulos, et al.

Statements of Deputy Ministers Chr. Alexopoulou, N. Tahiaou, St. Konstantinidis

The Deputy Minister of Transport, Christina Alexopoulou, specialized the already existing interventions in the OASTH, in collaboration with the OSE and with KTEL, for the increase of moving buses in the city.

“Specifically, today the number of buses on the city’s roads reaches 475, when in September 2019 there were 325. In fact, in about two months, that is, from last December until today, 30 vehicles were added, which joined the existing lines,” said deputy minister.

For his part, the Deputy Minister of Infrastructure Nikos Tahiaos emphasized that during the crisis and the coronavirus, perhaps the wrong impression was given that the only problems with traffic were the construction sites of the metro, while the reality is that “traffic is increasing with Heracleians rhythms”, and for this reason, with the aim of improving traffic in the future, the construction of the fly over was selected.

He also emphasized that “if there are no other complications, which will be caused intentionally and serving some selfish interests”, the completion of the flyover will be done in the stipulated time. He noted, finally, that the local government and agencies have an important role to play in their areas of competence, for parking spaces, policing, loading and unloading, etc. and that the coordinating body will provide all the information and to the ministry regarding the issuance of the decisions necessary for the city to function in view of the fly over at better rates.

“That, which I want to be clear”, he added, “because we must be honest with the Thessalonians, is that a magic wand, which will suddenly come and completely reverse the effects of the work, which is being carried out, does not exist. It is clear that the city will be in a state of disruption for a period of time until the project is completed, but it is also clear that we will do everything possible to shorten that time and above all to make the citizens feel that what is coming will be something better for them and for our city”.

“The issue of mitigating the traffic consequences during the construction of the flyover is a multi-layered issue and we are all trying to help in order to achieve the best possible result” emphasized the Deputy Minister of the Interior (Macedonia and Thrace) Stathis Konstantinidis and added:

“In the past period, in about fifteen meetings of the coordinating body, some interventions have been prioritized and prioritized, others have already been completed and others are lacking and some steps remain in order to be finalized.”

The deputy minister noted that a number of measures are being discussed and considered – whatever is required to be done, including the issue of telework for civil servants, if deemed necessary and at a time deemed necessary, while he added that the Ministry of Citizen Protection has increased police surveillance to facilitate the transportation project