Urban mobility study seeks ways to ease Nicosia congestion

Nicosia local authorities are working on an urban mobility plan to help address traffic congestion, including through rolling work schedules to ease rush-hour gridlocks, it emerged on Friday.

The government signed a contact on Friday with consultants TREDIT SA for the preparation of the Sustainable Urban Mobility Plan (SVAK) for the wider urban area of the city of Nicosia.

Present at the ceremony were Transport Minister Yiannis Karousos and the mayors of Nicosia and Lakatamia.

The company is to work on an urban mobility plan for the city of Nicosia, including the city centre and the wider urban area, which will consider all relevant integrated projects and plans, such as the Nicosia Integrated Mobility Plan but also studies and projects already promoted.

Emphasis will be given to the regeneration and revitalisation of urban nuclei, especially in the city centre, through specific measures of sustainable mobility. The SVAK Nicosia will be based on the latest instructions of the European Local Transport Information Service (ELTIS).

During the first months of the preparation of the SVAK, the contractor is called to evaluate and develop in detail specific deliverables related to the enhancement of public transport and traffic management, which the transport ministry and the local authorities consider as a top priority.

These concern exclusive bus lanes, including horizontal and vertical road signs and for bus priority at traffic lights at intersections. This can in the future be easily converted into a Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) or a tram system.

The contractor was also asked to prioritise proposals for rolling work schedules with the aim of establishing alternative arrangements for commuting during peak hours with the goal of solving the traffic problem.

Among the priorities is the revitalisation of the historical nuclei, the business centre, and the other urban nuclei of Nicosia.

Karousos said that such plans have a holistic approach, which aim to meet the mobility needs of people, both now and in the future, for a better quality of life in cities.

He said the design of sustainable urban mobility “means a change in the people’s daily life and culture.”

“With the completion of the study of SVAK Nicosia we will be closer to the implementation of projects and actions for a more sustainable Nicosia and undoubtedly a more ecological, more resilient, and with socially equal structures, city,” he said.

Nicosia, he added, “will meet the goals of sustainable development and social cohesion and will continuously improve the living conditions and daily life of its inhabitants.”
“The goal of all of us must be cities that are greener, cleaner, safer and more accessible to all,” the minister added.

Nicosia mayor Constantinos Yiorkadjis said this plan will help solve the traffic problem faced, especially at the entrance and exit of the capital.

He said the main goal is “to create a network of bus lanes that will make the bus itself more competitive than cars, thus solving the traffic problem observed today.”
The implementation of the 20-month project is to start immediately.

The cost of the study, €616.420 plus VAT, is co-financed by 85 per cent by the EU Cohesion Fund through the Competitiveness and Sustainable Development programme and the rest from national resources.