The Minister of Transportation, Evi Tsolaki, as stated on Thursday before the Parliamentary Committee on Transportation by the Head of the Ministry’s Sustainable Mobility Division, Evi Anagiotou.
The Minister’s position, as Ms. Anagiotou noted, emerged following a discussion she had with her on the matter. Ms. Anagiotou said that the Ministry is awaiting the Nicosia Municipality’s study on the proposed changes in order to take a position on specific proposals, noting, however, that the Minister does not agree with any change that would entail a refund to the European Union.
ΣΧΕΤΙΚΑ ΑΡΘΡΑ
Meanwhile, Nicosia Mayor Charalambos Prountzos stated that a study on changes to the avenue’s traffic regulations has been completed and will be submitted to the City Council. He added that the goal is to implement any changes without materially violating the terms of European funding.
During the discussion, Ms. Anagiotou noted that the Ministry’s plan for Nicosia is long-term and based on strategic studies, and that a traffic model has been developed for the capital, the data from which has been provided to the Nicosia Municipality and the Department of Urban Planning and Housing.
As he noted, Cyprus remains heavily dependent on cars, with the number of vehicles increasing by approximately 8% each year, while the construction of more roads has not solved the problem. Makariou, she added, is part of the Ministry’s broader strategic framework for sustainable mobility.
The Mayor of Nicosia then stated that the current municipal administration aims to be part of the solution to the issues that have arisen from the traffic regulations on Makarios Avenue.
Regarding the southern section of the avenue, he said that, based on traffic models, the one-way system has helped vehicles enter the area more quickly and that the City Council does not consider changes to this section necessary.
Regarding the northern section, he said that the City’s proposals take into account four criteria of the funding agreement: the length of the bike lane network, open spaces for improving urban mobility, the estimated annual reduction in emissions, and the length of the bus lanes that have been constructed.
Regarding European funding, Mr. Prountzos stated that the Municipality cannot assume the risk of having to return funds and that the study aims to arrive at a solution that will minimize the risk of funding being reclaimed.
In remarks following the meeting, the Mayor of Nicosia said that Makarios Street must be addressed “with a level head and not by entrenching oneself in stereotypical positions.” He noted that the Municipality inherited an improved urban landscape, but also “a declining commercial trend,” which it is attempting to reverse through proposals related to traffic, environmental, tax, and urban planning measures.
Mr. Prountzos said that the municipality’s study will be submitted at the next City Council meeting and, if approved, it will be forwarded to the Traffic Issues Agency and the Ministry of Transportation. He added that a meeting with the Minister of Transportation is scheduled for later this week to present the roadmap.
Regarding funding, he noted that “no one can say with certainty that the European Union will not demand the recovery of some amount,” noting that the study’s goal is to minimize the risk.
Nicosia Deputy Mayor Chrysanthos Fakas stated that the goal is to revitalize Makarios Avenue’s commercial activity. “The point is to open up Makarios Avenue, not to close it,” he said, adding that “the commercial vitality of Makarios Avenue has declined, and we are here to help.”
On behalf of the Ministry of Finance, Senior Development Officer Efstathios Konstantinidis stated that the Makarios Avenue project has been successfully completed, noting that any further changes affecting the nature of the project or the way it was co-financed will be re-evaluated by the European Commission, and that the possibility of having to return part of the funding to the EU cannot be ruled out.
As he noted, the total amount of co-financing amounted to €21.6 million, with the European Commission having contributed approximately €18 million. He added that it is impossible to know in advance what the European Commission’s final decision will be, while the four criteria set by the Mayor have been met and will continue to apply.
Audit Office spokesperson Markella Koukkoulli stated that the Office will not intervene in the Municipality’s decision; at the same time, expressed concern about changing the nature of a project so soon after its completion.
ETEK spokesperson Laura Nikolaou noted that the discussion regarding Makarios Street cannot be separated from the overall revitalization of downtown Nicosia, while Michalis Lambrinos, President of the Cyprus Transport Engineers Association, noted that “access is one thing, and through-traffic is another,” emphasizing that the city center must be accessible without all through-traffic being routed through it.
Andreas Antoniadis, a representative of KEVE, said that the plans implemented to date have not achieved the expected results in terms of either mobility or entrepreneurship.
POVEK Secretary-General Stefanos Koursaris argued that, after approximately four years, the measure has not yielded results and expressed support for the Municipality’s efforts to reopen Makarios Street.
Representatives of shop owners, residents, and small businesses in the historic commercial center echoed this sentiment, while Nikos Vassiliou, representative of the Initiative Committee for the Reopening of Makarios Street, stated that the problem lies in access, not traffic flow.
Subsequently, the Committee Chair and ELAM MP Sotiris Ioannou stated that ELAM supports the opening of Makarios Avenue.
DISY Member of Parliament Andreas Konstantinou requested specific answers regarding the planning of bus lanes and when a continuous network from the GSP to the center of Nicosia. He also asked whether there is a study on the impact of private vehicles traveling along Makarios Avenue on public transportation and what the exact amount would be that could be claimed back from the EEU.
At the same time, he requested data on the approximately 13,000 vehicles that, as reported, previously traveled along Makarios Avenue, wondering where they are now being diverted, including to Stasinou, Evagoras, Diagoras, Omirou, and Kallipoleos streets.
In remarks made after the meeting, Mr. Konstantinou reiterated the need for specific answers, including regarding European funding and traffic flow on the streets where traffic was diverted following the changes on Makarios Street. “We need public transportation that actually works, but we also need traffic management measures that meet the city’s real needs,” he noted.
In remarks following the committee meeting, ELAM MP Andreas Papacharalambous stated that, despite the improvement of the urban environment, “there is a complete commercial slump,” arguing that, after four years, the plan must be reevaluated and the one-way traffic on Makarios Avenue and adjacent streets must be reversed.
In his remarks before the Committee, DIKO MP Adamos Aspris described the avenue as “a beautiful but clinically dead street” and called for an investigation into whether the situation is due to the pedestrianization of Makarios Avenue or to other factors as well. In remarks made after the session, he said that any changes should be made without creating problems with European funding. “It is unthinkable that the Republic of Cyprus would be asked to return funds to the EU that it received for the revitalization and redevelopment of this specific area,” he noted.
During the meeting, Odysseas Michaelides, president of the ALMA movement, raised the key question of whether Makarios Street should function as a thoroughfare for traffic management or whether the barriersare preventing access to stores, noting that a decision that would entail the return of European funding “obviously cannot be pursued.”
In her remarks, ALMA MP Irini Charalambidou stated that “When we dismantle projects funded by the EU and place the burden on Cypriot taxpayers, someone will have to provide serious and substantive explanations.” “We cannot haphazardly dismantle projects that were carried out based on environmental studies and with European funds simply because we’ve decided at this moment that this would be better,” she added.
Dimitris Souglis, a member of parliament for Direct Democracy, also spoke in favor of the project, calling “unacceptable and scandalous,” as he put it, to make decisions without consulting those affected. Speaking after the session, he reiterated his position in favor of reopening the street, citing the example of Agios Andreas Avenue in Limassol, which, as he said, “when Agios Andreas Avenue—which once thrived—was pedestrianized, it died.”
Kyriakos Tsimillis, spokesperson for the Federation of Environmental Organizations, noted that the existing regulation is part of a broader Sustainable Urban Development Planand that overturning it before the overall planning proceeds would also be piecemeal.
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Source: KYPE
