The background
Limassol is the second largest city in Cyprus and is located on the southern coast. It is also the largest seaport in the country and one of the most important in the Mediterranean Sea. Densely populated, it is a nucleus of business attraction, heavy and light industry, commercial areas and government services.
Limassol is connected by road to the four largest cities in the country via the Nicosia-Limassol motorway. This road connects Paphos in the west, Larnaca in the east and Nicosia in the north-east.
Limassol town centre and both the old and new port are connected by Omonias Avenue. This road crosses residential and commercial areas and runs south from the Nicosia-Limassol motorway at Polemedia junction.
The challenge
The port’s activity was expected to grow, which also increased road congestion. Residents close to Omonias Avenue suffered from air and noise pollution. Besides, traffic jams were frequent and key junctions operated over capacity.
The traffic jams were partly generated by large heavy goods vehicles leaving or arriving at the port. They were visually intrusive, produced long delays and affected junction performance.
High levels of congestion and large volumes of pedestrians were a dangerous tango that could cause traffic accidents. In fact, the Omonias, Paphos and Franklin Roosevelt Avenues were well-known accident black spots.
The action
Limassol needed to relieve road congestion. The construction and adaptation of 7.9 km of roads should take the traffic away from Omonias Avenue and improve road links.
JASPERS assisted the Public Works Department from the Ministry of Transport, Communications and Works of Cyprus throughout the three phases of the project:
1. The construction of the so-called Vertical Road. It measures 5.6 km and consists of a new urban dual carriageway road and the upgrading of the existing single carriageway road to urban dual standard. JASPERS assisted in the preparation of the feasibility study documents.
2. The construction of the Parallel Road. This 2.3 km road is an extension of the Vertical Road. It runs parallel to the Limassol port coastline and ends at the main access to the port. It upgraded the single carriageway road to 2x2 roads.
3. A stormwater drainage system. It drains rainwater from Limassol west and Miltonos catchment area. JASPERS reviewed the cost-benefit analysis of the project in order to justify the investment; we also checked the possible combinations of road and stormwater drainage components. The current preferred option consisted of a main central culvert below the link road with a stormwater retention pond and an overflow channel that leads to Akrotiri Salt Lake.
To further reinforce the hands-on capacity building provided during the assignment, JASPERS run in parallel the Major Project Application Forms seminar targeted at managing authorities, beneficiaries and consultants involved in the project.
The results
JASPERS’ review of the grant application ensured that the Public Works Department of Cyprus could have +70% of the total investment cost covered by the EU’s Cohesion Fund. In addition, there were indirect economic benefits: thanks to better accessibility, Limassol Port could flourish and consolidate businesses around it.
Drivers saved time commuting and benefited from lower vehicle operating costs. The flood risk from the catchment areas to the north of Limassol has also been reduced.
Finally, residents’ quality of life improved since they experience lower traffic volumes and have less visual, air and noise pollution.
