What’s the cost/benefit ration on a new highway?

Sir,
I have noted several letters in the Sunday Mail (latest, April 24) commenting favourably on the benefits of the building of the proposed new Polis highway. Of course, a more modern highway would have benefits. It is hard to spend £400 million, the estimated cost of the highway, without some benefit. That is not the issue. The question is one of cost related to benefit, i.e. what is the cost/benefit of the new Polis highway and how does this compare to alternatives?

For example, a small fraction of the estimated expenditure would enable the government to prevent the impending closure of a part of the Nicosia cancer centre. Indeed, it could pay for a major upgrade of all hospitals and health facilities in Cyprus. It could provide many new schools to replace those in need of major repairs.

As for car accidents, we all know roads are not the major cause. In any case, the majority of accidents happen in our major urban areas. Four hundred million pounds could pay for many more policemen on the streets at night when they are needed. It could pay for the construction of pavements where pedestrians now have to walk in the street.  If it is estimated that the cost/benefit of all other alternatives are inferior to that of a new Polis highway, then let’s invest in another new highway – more concrete and asphalt from coast to coast.
Jim Leontiades, Nicosia

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.