“Green light” by the Court of Audit for E65 Motorway’s Southern Section

Concession contract of E65 Motorway’s Southern part, regarding the construction of Lamia-Ksyniada road section, will be sent to the Greek Parliament for its final ratification, probably even before Christmas. According to secure information of ypodomes.com, the contract was previously approved unanimously by the Court of Audit. It is also reminded that a month ago, the audit by the Commission’s services (DG Comp, DG Move, etc.) had been also positive, giving a happy ending to a process that lasted about 2 years.

Now the last act will be the ratification by the Greek Parliament and immediately afterwards, the construction period will begin, which, officially, is expected to last 3 years, However, for the contractor, TERNA, it will be a big challenge to accelerate the completion of Lamia-Ksyniada works, in order to increase the daily traffic loads, that today are characterized as unexceptional. For its part, TERNA has long been ready to start relevant works, however, according to the schedule, the project’s completion is estimated at the end of 2021.

The construction of the Southern part of E65 will also mean its connection with PAThE axis and, consequently, its integration to the country’s highway network. Currently the section that has been released to operation extends from the area of ​​Ksyniada to the town of Trikala, with a length of 80 km and, although it is a modern, covered motorway with 2 lanes per direction (+emergency lanes), it is characterized as “blind” due to its lack of connectivity with the country’s other axes.

Lamia-Ksyniada section, 32.5 km long, will cost 310m euros. The largest technical work of this section is the 3 km-long Othrys Road Tunnel which has already been opened by 33% (or 1,000 meters). The key to the rapid completion of the project is the timely return of the expropriated properties in the section between the 15th and 29th km of the under-construction section.

It should be noted that the approval of the Southern section will also stand as a precondition for the future implementation of the Northern part from Trikala to Egnatia Motorway, which will fully complete E65 Central Motorway, from Lamia to Kipourio Grevenon area.

It is thought that the improvement of daily traffic flows, will also contribute to the financing of Trikala-Egnatia by EIB, using as solid evidence the improved figures of the Motorway, from Lamia to Trikala. Even with a slight delay, if every goes as planned, the construction phase could start in 2019.

Nikos Karagiannis-ypodomes.com