Infrastructure projects 5 billion. euros change the landscape in Athens and Thessaloniki
On the burning issue of everyday life in Attica, the traffic, we respond with projects like Tram and Metro to Piraeus, the Metro Line 4, the Suburban West Attica and tthe train to Lavrio and Rafina, the connection of Kymi Avenue with the National Road, emphasizes the Deputy Minister of Infrastructure George Karagiannis.
We are moving forward, underlines in an interview with APE, Mr. Karagiannis, the connection of the Western Peripheral Avenue Egaleo with the National Road Athens – Corinth, with completion of the Scaramanga Node. We are introducing as a bill in the Parliament a new model of conception and maturation of new projects, through standard proposals, from the private sector. We are changing the image of Thessaloniki with the Metro and the New Regional Eastern Road, the well-known Flyover.
We are auctioning 4 roads. We are starting 6 new railway projects and 20 Public-Private Partnerships. “We are doing ‘Brain Gain’ and the infrastructure sector is becoming the trigger for the country’s explosive growth,” he said.
The entire interview of the Deputy Minister of Infrastructure George Karagiannis in APE-MPE and George Psyllias is as follows:
K. Karagianni, what is your plan for the new projects in Attica?
has prepared a complete level of projects for Attica. And day by day we work systematically for its implementation. We focus in particular on the network of fixed orbit vehicles and the new roads. In other words, we are talking about projects that in the long run respond to the burning problem of everyday life in Attica, the traffic. I wish the previous government had shown similar insight, now the capital that had won a few years όμως But let’s look in turn:
In the metro, the big new project is of course Line 4, with 15 new stations, which after years of delays we managed to contract and the projects are already starting. We are talking about the biggest project of the coming years. At the same time, we are moving fast with the expansion of Line 3 to Piraeus, which will be completed in the summer of 2022 with 3 new stations in Maniatika, Piraeus and the Municipal Theater. Note also that in the next few days the Tram in Piraeus was put into operation, something that will help even more the transport image of the city.
But we are also looking at new extensions of our network. The new Suburban Railway of West Attica – an area of great economic potential, which will benefit significantly from the new infrastructure projects and is still off the transport map – but also the new train projects in Rafina, Lavrio, will radically change the picture.
On the other hand, our program also includes critical new roads that will streamline the movement of vehicles, such as the connection of Kymi Avenue with the National Road. A project that we will auction at the end of the year and will serve 30,000 vehicles daily, in order to help the more efficient operation of the Metamorfosi junction, which today creates long delays.
Equally important are the projects of new extensions of Attiki Odos that are in the design phase and will come to the fore with the new year.
You understand that all these projects will give real breath to Athens, improving the quality of life of its inhabitants.
What else does your plan include, Deputy Minister in Attica? You said a few days ago about the project in Scaramanga that you undertook.
We undertook to proceed with a very important project, the connection of the Western Peripheral Avenue Egaleo with the National Road Athens – Corinth, together with the completion of the Scaramanga Junction. And this project is vital for Attica, since the West did not decongest the traffic on Schistos Avenue and Athens Avenue, while the upgrade of the Skaramaga junction will improve traffic on the National Road, which suffers daily from thousands of vehicles.
That is why we characterized it as a national level, in order to be able to undertake this project. As we have done in other cases of critical projects for which we were asked for our assistance.
You presented the innovation proposals to the Council of Ministers a few months ago. What stage is this at and what other initiatives will you take to reform the operation of the site?
We believe in the private sector and above all we believe that when we join forces with it we can achieve great results for the benefit of the citizens. We are therefore promoting this new model of conception and maturation of new projects, through pilot proposals, which will be submitted by the private sector. Thus we motivate individuals to find, prepare and propose standard technical solutions for the construction of projects. The model has already been presented to the Council of Ministers and will soon be introduced as a bill in Parliament.
This is not the only innovation we bring, I can still tell you another one for which we already have a temporary contractor and we will soon sign a contract. I am referring to the large competition of consultants who will fully support the General Secretariat of Infrastructure in its projects, through a flexible and model agreement – a framework for the maturation, management and monitoring of projects, thus upgrading our capabilities as a whole.
I know that you have a special sensitivity for the works of Thessaloniki. Tell us a little about them. What stage are we in with the Thessaloniki Metro and its extensions. Also with the new regional of Thessaloniki?
The city has identified in the technical solution that we proposed for the Venizelos station, the CoE gave the green light and at the end of 2023 that we have both Metro and ancient. So far with the sterile reactions! Even the few who remain must disagree with the solution, finally respect the repeated rejections of their appeals and accept the reality. The city has suffered a lot from the backward perceptions that held it back for decades.
Immediately after the main line, the extension to Kalamaria will be put into operation, while at the same time the preliminary works for the extension to the west and the studies to the airport are in progress.
As for the new Regional, the known Flyover, which we designed and created through PPPs, with a budget of € 370 million, at the end of the year we have a temporary contractor for the project. As you can see, these projects will dramatically improve the daily lives of citizens, but will also upgrade the city as a whole.
Thessaloniki will finally become a modern international transport hub. As in its place and deserves in its history. And of course, as Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and Minister Costas Karamanlis pledged. With a series of major projects: Upgrading of the airport, investments in the ports, new suburban railway for Western Thessaloniki, new railway connection with the 6th pier, new road connection of the port with PATHE that stagnated for years, new flood protection works in Oreokastro and Vegetable market. All the critical and decisive for the present and the future of the city.
Which infrastructure projects to proceed in the near future?
In the coming months we will auction 4 roads as public works (Extension of Kymi Avenue and connection with PATHE, Chalkida and Psachna Bypass, Bralos – Amfissa Department, VOAK: Neapoli – Agios Nikolaos) totaling € 1 billion.
We are also starting 6 new railway projects worth 3.3 billion. finally connecting the railway with the major ports of the country: Patras, Thessaloniki, Rafina, Lavrio, Alexandroupoli and Kavala, upgrading the operation of the network itself and the transit transport in the country.
At the same time, we are moving fast with all the projects that have already been contracted, since the works have already started on Line 4 of the Metro and on the Northern Section of the E-65, with the Southern part being completed at the same time.
While new flood and hydraulic projects and 20 PPPs worth 5 billion euros, complete a package of projects over 13 billion euros as we have announced.
The country’s technical world agrees that 2021 is a pivotal year for infrastructure. It is no exaggeration to say that we have an explosion in the industry. Scholars, consultants and manufacturers are looking for people to meet the huge volume of work that has arisen after a decade of great crisis, approaching our worthy compatriots who have gone abroad in recent years and want to return to the country on reliable terms.
In other words, we are putting Brain Gain into practice and the infrastructure sector is becoming the trigger for the explosive development of the country in the near future.
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