City handed to the cyclists

NICOSIA residents of all ages yesterday got a chance to enjoy one of the capital’s main shopping streets without any cars, with motor vehicles banned for six hours and access allowed only to pedestrians, bicycles and public transport.

The occasion, part of European Mobility Week, was organised by Nicosia Municipality and dubbed ‘In Town Without my Car’.

Makarios Avenue and several other roads were off-limits to cars from 9am to 3pm, giving residents a chance to enjoy their walk without any cars around.

A bicycle run was also organised around the city, with riders of all ages taking part.
The occasion gave the chance to various groups to highlight the lack of bike routes around town as well as the inadequacy of public transport, which forces people to use cars for their every move.

AKEL deputy Eleni Mavrou said she hoped it would serve as a wake-up call for policy to be drafted that would focus on making cities suitable for people, not cars.

Green deputy George Perdikis said the day was a message to the state that the capital needed safe cycle routes and other infrastructure that would allow people to travel without any danger.

He said the traffic problem could not be solved with new roads and highways but by facilitating the use of bicycles and encouraging people to use public transport.

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.