Mayor pleads for action on killer road

THE PUBLIC Works Department yesterday insisted the Avdellero-Athienou road was safe following the death of a National Guard conscript early on Monday morning.

The incident brings the number of people killed on the road to five in the last five years, prompting Athienou Mayor Gavril Kazazis to call for drastic safety improvements.

“The statistics don’t make any sense,” he told the Mail. “How can we have five people die on the same one kilometre stretch of road?” he wondered.

Eighteen-year-old Constantinos Tsigarides was on his way home after a night out in Nicosia when he lost control of his car on the road’s bend. The vehicle overturned repeatedly before bursting into flames.

Ironically, it ploughed through a remembrance area for two women killed on the road 18 months ago.

“The people of Athienou drive all around Cyprus with no problem, so why are they having accidents and dying on this road? It is very strange,” said Kazazis.

He added that four of the dead were involved in three fatal accidents in the last two years, with two of the accidents occurring in exactly the same place.

“The road is pretty new and was constructed about six years, but there is obviously something seriously wrong with its design,” the Mayor said. “The speed limit is 80km/h, but people don’t stick to this. However, I don’t think that you can blame excessive speed for the accidents alone as people break the speed limit on nearly every road on the island without dying on the same stretches of road.”

He added that the Municipality had expressed concern over the road’s design with the Public Works Department of the Ministry of Communications. “We asked them to look into the design of the road as soon as it became apparent that there was a problem,” he said. “We suggested the road be made straighter in order to make it safer but nothing has been done. Now look what has happened.”

He said he would now ask to meet with Transport Minister Harris Thrassou to discuss the situation.

Speaking from the site of the accident, the Public Works Department’s executive engineer, Thrasos Aphamis, said that, “the road’s construction standards are in accordance with all relevant regulations, and the speed limit has been set with this is mind.” He added that, “the curvature at the accident’s location is wide, in other words, it is not a sharp bend.”

He was at a loss to explain the spate of accidents, adding that the Department “will look into every possible detail in collaboration with the police”.