Nikos Tachiaos, Deputy Minister for Infrastructure and Transport, outlined the next steps for Pontou Street, the Mikra terminus and plans for extensions to the Thessaloniki Metro in an interview with Radio Thessaloniki.
He said the contract to build Pontou Street was signed about three weeks ago, with a contractual period of nine months. The contractor is completing the final designs, and the first two construction sites will be set up before Christmas.
Mr Tachiaos said the Metro depot planned on the boundary of the Municipality of Evosmos, above the Ring Road, would also operate as a station, allowing it to serve passengers, with parking for people transferring to the Metro.
The sites, he clarified, have already been identified. He recalled that the Metro extension to north-western Thessaloniki, the top priority, had been presented publicly, while work on the station-location studies had made significant progress. The locations had been determined precisely, including those for the above-ground facilities. The proposed locations had been shared with the area’s mayors, and technical meetings on the station sites were continuing.
To the east, the Deputy Minister for Infrastructure and Transport explained that Pontou Street must connect to Georgikis Scholis Street, the road to the airport, in order to link up with the rest of the city’s road network. The connection runs through a triangular plot beyond the Peripheral Trench, within the administrative boundaries of the Municipality of Pylaia-Chortiatis. The municipality has prepared a town-planning study for the area, which is at the second-publication stage. A future Metro station serving the area must also be planned at the point where the road will end, roughly level with the Higher War School.
Mr Tachiaos said the aim was for buses, public transport and cars coming from the Michaniona-Peraia corridor and the airport to reach the Mikra terminus.
The station will become the main interchange hub for eastern Thessaloniki, at least until the Metro extension in that direction moves forward. Once Pontou Street has been built, bus services to Mikra can run more frequently under the plans of OSETH and OASTH.
Nea Elvetia will remain the main route for Panorama, areas of the Municipality of Thermi and journeys to and from Halkidiki. “The Mikra terminus is not a challenge for the Municipality of Kalamaria alone. It is a challenge for the whole city,” he said.
In the Deputy Minister’s view, a key issue is coordination between the two municipalities. The Municipality of Kalamaria is moving ahead with the redevelopment of the area around the trench on Ikarων Street, while the Municipality of Pylaia-Chortiatis has planned roundabouts on Georgikis Scholis Street to prevent high speeds for safety reasons.
The challenge is to find solutions that allow each municipality to retain its own plans while ensuring Pontou Street works as intended. The plans require the municipalities’ agreement and, because they have metropolitan implications, must also be coordinated with the Region of Central Macedonia.
Looking further ahead, Mr Tachiaos outlined how the Metro could extend eastwards. Studies carried out so far indicate that the airport alone would not generate enough passenger traffic. The planned route would therefore also serve Patriarchika — the area around Mediterranean Cosmos — and then, further west, the area around the Interbalkan Medical Centre, where there are also large clusters of commercial activity, before turning onto Georgikis Scholis Street towards the airport. He clarified that this was a long-term plan, dependent on funding, and that the Metro was being built in stages, with north-western Thessaloniki the first priority.
However, provision must be made now, so that new roads can be designed to allow the Metro to run underneath them. “It is much safer for both the Metro and buildings if it runs beneath roads,” he explained.
“It is very difficult for someone to come along later and draw up a plan if the necessary provision has not been made,” the Deputy Minister said. “I speak as a Thessalonian, not just as a Deputy Minister. We all need to develop the studies to the point where, at some time in the future, whoever is in a position of responsibility and sees an opportunity can make use of the funding instrument to move things forward.”
In closing, Deputy Minister for Infrastructure and Transport Nikos Tachiaos reflected on the character of the city. “Thessaloniki has an advantage. It is the most people-friendly city, and we need to make it even more people-friendly. That is what we are working towards. And this does not depend only on governments; it also depends on the people of the city themselves,” he said.