New stretch of highway gets green light from environment department

The environment department has approved the construction of a four-lane highway from Akaki to Astromeritis, after suspending a project regarding another highway from Astromeritis to Evrychou.

The Akaki-Astromeritis highway will be 19 kilometres long and is scheduled to be completed in 2027. The total cost of the project will exceed €130m for road construction and for the obligatory purchase of the land by the government.

Authorities are hopeful that the new highway will help decongest the heavy traffic in the area for commuters either living or working in Nicosia, as well as for people heading to Troodos from the capital, especially during weekends.

Moreover, the government said that the new project will also help reduce accidents in an area where many of them have been registered in recent years.

The road will connect to the existing road network with new roundabouts and crossings, as well as a secondary road network.

The new highway will be 25 metres wide, with each lane measuring about 3.5 metres. It will also feature a 2.6 metres-wide concrete safety divider between the four lanes and a surface rainwater drainage ditch at the edges of the highway.

The speed limit is set to be limited to 100km/h due to the many dangerous bends on along the road.

Work on the Astromeritis-Evrychou highway was suspended due to environmental concerns it would affect a Natura 2000 site.

The projects are part of the same road which aims to link Nicosia with Evrychou in the mountains. The first two phases – Nicosia-Kokkinotrimithia and Kokkinotrimithia-Denia – have been completed for years.