A unified, comprehensive programme of works to tackle traffic congestion across greater Limassol has been drawn up for the first time.
The plan was presented at a wide-ranging meeting chaired by the Minister of Transport, Communications and Works, Alexis Vafeades, attended by the Department of Public Works, mayors from the wider Limassol area, and other stakeholders.
Officials set out the full picture of projects and interventions currently at various stages of study, design and implementation, with the aim of agreeing a joint list of priorities with local authorities based on expected traffic benefit, level of readiness and feasibility.
The central aim is to gradually complete Limassol’s core road network, creating alternative routes, improving traffic distribution and easing pressure at the city’s most congested points, while pressing ahead with both quick-win measures and the maturation of the larger infrastructure projects needed for a long-term fix.
Northern Bypass
The flagship project in the overall plan is the Northern Bypass, which will help complete the road network in the city’s northern section and divert traffic away from the dense urban core.
The complex scheme is being developed in stages at varying degrees of readiness, covering Evagora Lanitis Avenue; Synergatismou and Nikeas Avenues; the Agios Athanasios–Germasogeia section; the Agia Fyla–Mesa Geitonia–Agios Athanasios section; and the Ypsonas–Polemidia section. Construction plans are being advanced for the first three sections, while the necessary local plans are being progressed for the remaining two.
Completing and upgrading the main road network
The wider programme also includes the second parallel route through Germasogeia and Agios Athanasios, including Vythkilia Avenue; the Northern Parallel route through Ypsonas–Polemidia; Phase A2 of the Limassol–Saittas motorway; Ilia Kannaourou Avenue in the Ypsonas–Kato Polemidia section; and the widening and upgrading of Agios Athanasios Avenue along with sections of Kolonakiou and G.P. Livani Avenues. These works aim to improve connections between districts, strengthen alternative routes and relieve pressure on the city’s main arteries.
Priority short-term measures
Alongside the major road works, targeted interventions are being considered to improve traffic management and ease pressure at overloaded junctions. These include installing an Urban Traffic Control (UTC) system at 50 signal-controlled junctions, implementing measures identified in a study of the Polemidia, Prodromos and Agia Filaxeos junctions, and building a roundabout at Mesa Geitonia. Modern control systems, officials said, will allow for better coordination of traffic lights and adjustment to real conditions on the road.
Strategic infrastructure
Longer term, the plan includes strategic infrastructure with the potential to reshape traffic distribution across greater Limassol as a whole, including full delivery of the Third Parallel/Northern Bypass of Limassol; upgrading the A1 motorway to six lanes between Parekklisia and the Germasogeia roundabout; a third-level junction linking Giannou Kranidioti Avenue with Nikou kai Despinas Patichi Avenue; and Phase B of the Germasogeia–Akrounta–Dierona–Arakapas road.
The Department of Public Works will lead a coordination team, working with the relevant local authorities and other agencies involved, to track project readiness, log outstanding issues and coordinate the steps needed to advance them.
Mr Vafeades said tackling Limassol’s traffic problem required comprehensive planning, continuity and cooperation among all parties involved.
“For the first time, we have before us a complete picture of the needs and projects required for Limassol. Through cooperation with local authorities, we want to agree priorities and coordinate next steps. We need to move forward in parallel with interventions that can offer immediate relief to traffic, and with the major projects that will complete the city’s road network. The Northern Bypass is a central priority in this plan,” Mr Vafeades said.
Tackling the traffic problem cannot be achieved through any single intervention, officials stressed, but requires ongoing technical work, clear prioritisation and close cooperation between central government, local authorities and all relevant agencies.
A follow-up meeting has been scheduled for early September in the Kourion municipality, to which further agencies will be invited, with the aim of coordinating actions and setting specific timelines.
