The strategic importance of the project for the construction of three grade-separated interchanges in the wider Skaramagas area and the completion of the Western Aigaleo Peripheral Avenue was highlighted by the Minister of Infrastructure and Transport, Christos Dimas, in the Production and Trade Committee of Parliament, in the context of the discussion on the approval of the contract.
Mr. Dimas stated that today’s session constitutes the final institutional step before the signing of the contract for the implementation of a project of strategic importance for Western Attica and the entire basin, which had remained pending for more than two decades. As he stressed, the Government and the political leadership of the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport set as a priority the completion of all the required procedures, so that the project may definitively enter the implementation track.
The Minister of Infrastructure and Transport underlined that the project comes to address one of Attica’s most significant traffic problems, as the Skaramagas area serves daily approximately 100,000 vehicles, of which nearly 20,000 are heavy trucks, with significant impacts on traffic, the supply chain and economic activity.
As he stated, according to the results of the traffic micro-simulation model, the average speed in the area is expected to increase from 28 km/h to 47 km/h, while the estimated economic benefit for users amounts to approximately 10 million euros annually.
At the same time, he pointed out that this is a project of high social and economic value, without tolls, which will reduce travel time and vehicle operating costs.
Mr. Dimas summarized the main benefits of the intervention, saying: “In conclusion, if I had to condense the benefits from the construction of the project in question into a triptych, it would be: less inconvenience, faster routes and greater road safety for thousands of people”.
The Minister presented in detail the physical scope of the project, which includes the completion of the Western Aigaleo Peripheral Avenue (D.P.L.A), the Skaramagas grade-separated semi-interchange for the connection of the D.P.L.A with the Athens–Corinth National Road, the upgrading of the Existing Schisto Grade-Separated Interchange, the construction of the Shipyards Grade-Separated Interchange, the reconfiguration of the Athens–Corinth National Road and Schisto Avenue between the above interchanges, as well as the construction of the required stormwater collector network of the area.
More specifically, among other things, the works to be constructed are:
a) The completion of the Western Aigaleo Peripheral Avenue (D.P.L.A.) in its final section of 1.515 km (where only earthworks have been carried out, without however having been completed) up to the Athens–Corinth National Road.
b) The construction of the Skaramagas Grade-Separated Semi-Interchange for the connection of the Western Aigaleo Peripheral Avenue with the Athens–Corinth National Road.
c) The upgrading of the existing Schisto Grade-Separated Interchange, with the utilization of the existing two-lane bridge to serve Schisto–Corinth traffic with two traffic lanes and the construction of a second overpass bridge above the Athens–Corinth National Road (one traffic lane) for Athens–Schisto traffic. Within the framework of the construction of the above works, an upgrade of the Athens–Corinth National Road is also envisaged between the Skaramagas grade-separated semi-interchange and the Schisto grade-separated interchange, with an increase and reconfiguration of its traffic lanes.
d) The construction of the Shipyards Grade-Separated Interchange on Schisto Avenue, upstream of the Skaramagas Shipyards, by which the signalized at-grade intersection at the junction of Schisto Avenue and Palaska is replaced, as well as the completion of the required traffic arrangements on the area’s road network. Within the framework of the provision of this interchange, but also of the upgrading of the Schisto grade-separated interchange, the reconfiguration of Schisto Avenue in the section between these two interchanges is also envisaged.
Additionally, the project scope provides for three options, which concern the construction of additional branches at the Schisto and Shipyards Grade-Separated Interchanges, the demolition and reconstruction of the existing bridge at the Schisto Grade-Separated Interchange and the configuration of the Aspropyrgos Grade-Separated Semi-Interchange, utilizing the underpass of the D.P.L.A. for its connection with the Athens–Corinth National Road.
As the Minister of Infrastructure and Transport stated, the total contractual expenditure of the project amounts to 40.8 million euros (including VAT), while the construction duration has been set at 36 months from the signing of the contract.
Concluding his statement, the Minister of Infrastructure and Transport stressed: “With today’s session, the way opens for the next, decisive stage: the signing of the contract and automatically the start of the construction of the project. What now matters is not the delays of the past, but the commitment of the present and the result that will be delivered to the citizens. Besides, every major project has one real recipient: the citizen. And I am certain that the completion of this great intervention will provide major and lasting ‘relief’ to the traffic problem, while at the same time transforming Attica into a modern, functional and safe metropolitan transport system”.