Filenews 28 December 2020 - by Dora Christodoulou
The most realistic and possibly most cost-effective solution for the unfinished Airport-Tourist Area road is the improvement of the existing road, which passes through the communities of Achleia and Timis, 5 km long. This is stated in an intervention by the Cultural Officer of the Municipality of Paphos, Nikos Palios, commenting on the issue revealed by "F" with the position of Public Works that due to the environmental data, the promotion of the new road in its last part to the airport from the river of Esousa, is impossible under the current conditions.
Mr. Palios points out in his speech that in conjunction with the improvement of Archbishop Makarios Avenue in the mayor's area of Geroskipou, as regards the 2nd and 3rd phase, conditions for development will be created, while the main road network linking the components of the potential Municipality of Geroskipou and Eastern Paphos will be upgraded.
The proposal to put on the table and the improvement of the existing, old road to the airport, comes after the letter of the Department of Public Works to the Municipality of Paphos in which it makes it clear that the promotion of the section of the new road 'Paphos Airport to the river of Esousa', is not possible under any alternatives examined to date. Public Works makes it clear that the section of the new road to the airport is unlikely to go ahead, since due to the existence of Natura areas and the Special Protection Zone for birds, the project cannot be licensed for the necessary construction of a bridge over the river or the construction of an underground bridge. In addition, the move by the Ministry of Transport and Works to promote the whole project as a public interest was considered to be ineffective on the basis of previous experience of a similar effort on the Paphos-City road and the negative reaction of the European Union to this development.
In this light, the Department of Public Works makes clear, all possible prospects for securing the necessary environmental approval have been exhausted. Therefore, the only alternative is now considered to be the implementation of a proposal of the EBE Paphos for the preparation of a new study from the out outlying, which will put on the table alternatives that have not been examined so far. This, points out the Department of Public Works, since the new study will be prepared and funded by the Chamber of Paphos.
