Vafeades proposes third Limassol highway

Transport minister Alexis Vafeades cautioned on Friday that Cyprus risks reaching total traffic deadlock unless long-term road projects move ahead, as he confirmed plans for a third highway north of Limassol

Speaking on Sigma TV, Vafeades said Limassol alone registers around 13,000 new vehicles each year, which add relentless pressure to a road system that has remained largely unchanged for a decade.

“For ten years, routes were added on the same existing network. It is natural that we have reached this level of congestion,” he admitted.

He defended controversial road projects that have drawn local opposition, arguing that cancelling links such as the proposed Phytoriou Street extension deprived Limassol of vital exits.

He pointed to the planned northern bypass and the so called ‘third parallel highway’, which would connect village north of Limassol, as projects of strategic importance, designed to ease congestion on the Limassol coastal axis.

“Road projects are not for tomorrow. They require at least 20 years of planning. We are doing them not for us, but for our children as well,” he insisted, placing the total cost of planned works at more than €300 million over two decades.

On road safety, Vafeades described current fatality figures as “tragic” and said the ministry, coordinating with the road safety council, was pushing measures already used elsewhere in Europe, including expanded camera enforcement and speed controls, to reduce road deaths and serious injuries.