First phase of controversial airport road nearly complete

By Bejay Browne
THE FIRST phase of a new road which will eventually connect Paphos airport with the town’s tourist area is due to open in September.
The six kilometre road comes with a hefty price tag of more than 14 million euros and should be completed by the end of September, according to the resident engineer.
Iordannis Nicolaou said that the contractor is now in a penalty period because of delays, but that all that remains to be completed is finishing the road surfacing, painting all the road markers and work on a number of pavements. Work on the road started in June 2011.
The first four kilometres of the road is made up of four lanes – two each way – leading to a roundabout; the next two kilometres consist of one lane each way. The road includes pavements and bicycle lanes.
The airport still won’t be accessible via the new road, as that will form part of phase 2 of the project. Instead, motorists will still use part of the old Paphos to Limassol road to and from the airport.
Mayor of Yeroskipou Michalis Pavlides is less than enthusiastic about the road, which was agreed prior to him taking office. He suggests that the millions could’ve been better used to either build the Yeroskipou section of the eventual ring road around the town, or to construct a road connecting the centre of the municipality with the seafront.
“As it stands the new road has effectively divided us into two,” he said.
In addition, more than 5,000 trees were felled to make way for the project, angering environmentalists and locals.
At the time, a spokesman for the Greens suggested that it would’ve been possible to build the road on either side of some of the trees as they are growing in straight lines. He noted that specialists had agreed it was easy to move the road 10 or 20 metres, as there were no major excavations involved. But the suggestion was turned down.
The Greens also said that the project was an unnecessary waste of money which would cut the current travelling time from the airport to the town by only five minutes and would have a huge adverse affect on the environment.
The present mayor also opposed the destruction of the trees and complained that he was now left with the daunting task of securing at least 350,000 euros to replant trees, shrubs and flowers to beautify the area, which he described as unattractive.
“The municipality has been informed that we have to pay for this and I don’t know where I can find the money from. I’m meeting with various ministers and others to see if we can secure funds towards purchasing these trees.”
Pavlides said that the forestry department is undertaking a study of the area to establish which plants would be best suited and the actual cost.
“We have already put in the irrigation system. It’s important, as the area doesn’t look nice as it is,” he said.

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