Thessaloniki: Construction sites for the Flyover highway are being set up next week

In this context, the time is counting down for the start of the construction of the "Flyover", the aerial road which, together with the metro, if not solving, at least it is estimated that will "alleviate" the nightmarish traffic problem of Thessaloniki.

The joint venture of the contractors of the project, AVAX and Mytilineos, owes the first four years must construct the project and for the remaining 26 must maintain and operate it. Repayment will be made over 30 years (to be paid at current prices at that time) depending on the achievement of targets.

The suffering

Therefore, apart from the long-suffering metro, which is at a particularly advanced stage, finally heading towards its completion, the skyway on the eastern side of Regional Thessaloniki is expected to offer a big "breather" to the city's traffic.

Of course, before the relief that the project will bring, when it is completed, the inconvenience during the works is inevitable, as the cars will move, when they are not... stuck in traffic, at speeds of 60 kilometers per hour on the two lanes of the ring road.

The "Flyover" will serve 10,000 vehicles per hour in each direction and will save lives, as today, according to the data, the mortality rate on the Eastern Ring Road of Thessaloniki is 12 times higher than on Attiki Odos in Athens.

The project has a total budget of 478 million euros and will be the biggest road project in Thessaloniki for years. The first very large project after the construction of the iconic Egnatia Road. Together with the metro, they are considered the strong cards in the... transportation wars that are raging in Thessaloniki and everyone's bet is to win at some point.

The reactions and "hostile actions" in the streets

The major issue that Thessaloniki will now face from next week is the traffic confusion that will be caused in the city due to the diversion of a significant part of the traffic within the urban complex.

There does not seem to be a clear plan for solving this conundrum, namely the construction of the overground ring road and the smooth flow of traffic. According to what was mentioned by the Minister of Transport, Christos Staikouras at the presentation of the project, the planning to deal with the impacts will be dynamic, the doctrine of "seeing and doing" will generally be applied.

To begin with, the Traffic Police has drawn up an Intensive Traffic Policing Plan on specific Roads which includes intensive controls to remove illegally parked vehicles and to use the entire roadway for vehicle traffic.

However, moving to Thessaloniki for the next four years will require enormous reserves of perseverance and patience.

What is the Flyover?

The project has a total length of 13 Km. The boulevard will have 4 lanes, 2 plus one emergency lane in each direction. Also, the project includes 9 uneven junctions, 8 new bridges and 3 tunnels.

The new road axis will be able to create a through traffic between the beginning and the end of it "spilling" the current traffic on the existing section of the outdated Ring Road which will now have a more local, more urban character.

Drivers will have better access to the airport, southern Thessaloniki and Halkidiki and will enable better, more comfortable and safer travel. The new axis is estimated to greatly improve road safety levels compared to the existing one in which accidents are a particularly frequent phenomenon.