Attica Ring Road extensions to the East and South of Attica a big priority for the next government

One of the first bets of the next leadership of the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport is the expansion of the Attiki Motorway to Rafina, Lavrio and the Ilioupoli Tunnel. With the second election counting down, events in the world of construction are on hold but it is clear that the next day will have the extensions of Attiki Motorway in the foreground.

Almost all the major tenders for the road axes are either in the completion phase, such as the central part of the VOAK (Chania-Hersonissos) or in the B`phase (Drama-Amphipolis, Thessaloniki-Edessa), or in the start-up phase (Ioannina-Kakavia , Makrakomi-Tymfristos). In any case, however, they have taken their course and it is a matter of time when they will go into their construction period.

In the case of the Attiki Motorway extensions, we are on another level. Both the extension to Rafina, as well as the extension to Lavrio are without any study maturity. On the contrary, the urban Ilioupoli Tunnel that will connect Kareas with Vouliagmenis Avenue, thanks to the agreement of the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport, in a few months will have significant maturity to be able to finally be promoted towards implementation.

The main question at this time is how these three expansions will be promoted. As everything shows the model to be followed is the Innovation Proposals which are almost cut and sewn for this kind of projects. That is, branded projects that will not necessarily need European funds as they can be self-financed precisely because they are so commercial.

The relevant platform of the Ministry of Infrastructure for the submission of Innovation Proposals completed its cycle earlier in May and is now perhaps the main subject for the new leadership that will emerge from the June 25 elections to decide on the fate of the country’s new major road cluster.

The budget of these three projects, according to construction sources, may exceed 1 billion euros, an amount that seems dizzying, but it is not excluded that it will eventually reach even larger numbers. However, it should be clarified that through the Innovation Proposals we may see other extensions of the Atiki Motorway as the nature of the specific “tool” allows private consortiums to propose to the State projects which they believe have a commercial background and there is a need for their construction.

What we will probably have to wait for is any decisions to be made in due course as the next leadership will need the necessary time to familiarize itself with the subject, set priorities and see the time sequence in which things the new projects can progress.

In any case, the expansions of the Attiki Motorway due to the lack of other major road projects are sure to be high up on the infrastructure agenda in the new parliamentary term and it is expected with great interest how they will be placed on the construction chessboard of the new Minister of Infrastructure and Transport.