The Ministry of Infrastructure and Transportation will give priority to projects in Attica that will relieve the city from the traffic problem that is now causing suffocating conditions in transport, with the aim of improving the daily life of citizens.

The plan as presented yesterday by the political leadership to the accredited editors of the ministry provides the implementation of the extensions of the Attiki Odos and the Elefsina-Oinofyta axis, with the difference that for these projects priority will be given to minimizing the financial contribution of the public sector as the aim is to be done through concession contracts.

Of particular interest, however, is what Nikos Tachiaos, the Deputy Minister of Infrastructure, said about Line 4 of the Athens Metro. He said the metro is not progressing on schedule, stressing that when politics enters a project it creates a problem.

He called the way the contract was awarded and the separate contracting of the precursor works a problematic point as the two tenders that were supposed to be done at different times were actually signed almost simultaneously. Continuing in the same tones, the deputy minister described as unrealistic and the eight-year project implementation schedule, which will clearly not be met. As mentioned, the delay suffered on Line 4 cannot be determined at this time. The problems of the project are identified at the Exarchia station which is following its own pace, at the Evangelismos station for the Rizari Park where the technical study (TEPEM) is pending, and at the station in Kypseli in relation to utility movements.

The political leadership has avoided giving a specific timetable for the projects in Attica, which have neither secured resources, such as the extension to Kimi Avenue, which is the major pending project in the government’s planning for road projects within the urban fabric and has long had a contractor.

However, these are infrastructures that, as Infrastructure Minister Christos Staikouras pointed out, will have a medium-term horizon and are foreseen for the ministry’s planning in the next 5 to 10 years. “We are not in a position to talk about specific projects in Attica,” the minister stressed yesterday and spoke of an increase in the Public Investment Program to 500 million from 320 million that was the forecast due to budgetary space.

Planning

For his part, Deputy Minister of Infrastructure Nikos Tachiaos spoke about the projects in Attica for which there is interest to be implemented by private parties under the so-called model proposals. These projects are the extension of the western regional road of Hymettus to Hellinikon through the urban tunnel of Ilioupolis, which is considered necessary after the development of Hellinikon in the southern suburbs of Athens and the road axis Elefsina – Oinofita, which is estimated to decongest the traffic on the Kifissos mainly for trucks. Both of these proposals have been submitted to the Ministry, the first by the consortium of GEK TERNA, Aktor Concessions, ABAX and the second only by GEK TERNA. On the model of the model proposals, Mr. Tahiaos reiterated yesterday that there will be legislative changes that will vary the way they will be implemented.

The plan envisages that these projects will have a budget of more than 200 million and that the political leadership of the infrastructure ministry will not participate in the evaluation committees as originally envisaged by the legislative framework.