New bus lane into Nicosia to service park and ride at GSP

A new bus lane will begin operating on the highway into Nicosia starting September 4, to ease traffic congestion in the capital with the creation of a park and ride in the same area, the transport ministry said on Tuesday.

On the same day, the park and ride will start operating in the parking area of the GSP stadium, where people commuting will be able to park and take buses at discounted rates into work.

The ministry said that the bus lane, which will operate from the park and ride will have priority access into the capital, will cover a 1.8km stretch from the Strovolos roundabout. This is where the highway becomes a two-lane road and the lane will stretch to the first traffic lights entering the capital, the ‘Kalispera’ lights at the intersection of Limassol and Athalassas avenues.

At the intersection priority will be given to buses, to pass the line of cars into the city.

The ministry said that the creation of the bus lane at the entrance to Nicosia offers the uninterrupted passage of buses heading towards the city centre where there is heavy traffic congestion during the day, especially during the morning rush hour between 7am and 9am.

“It is estimated that there will be 20 minutes of time saved on all public transport routes passing through this section, as well as private buses,” the ministry said.

The ministry said that the GSP stadium will be served by new special urban routes with regular frequencies at peak times as well as long-distance routes to other cities. GSP stadium parking spaces will be offered free of charge to drivers who wish to leave their private vehicle and use public transport, either in the direction of the city centre or to other cities.

These designs will unify the above bus lane with the bus lanes that have already been implemented on Makariou Avenue and bring significant positive results to the use of public transport, the ministry said.