Highways in Greece

The Greek state will turn over the management and use of Attiki Odos highway to the new concessionaire, Nea Attiki Odos SA, on October 6, the ministries of National Economy & Economics and Infrastructure & Transport said on Monday.

Significant traffic is currently being seen on theAttiki Odos, just past the Hymettus regional toll road, due to a car accident.

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The government would love to see the money from the concessions of Attiki Odos and Egnatia Highway reach its coffers this year, in order to help pay back part of the country's debt. Increasingly, this seems unlikely.

After no fewer than 16 years, the section of the E65 highway linking Lamia (in central Greece) with Kalambaka (in Thessaly) was officially launched on Tuesday in the presence of Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis.

This is a 136-kilometer section of the road that the PM dubbed "a decades-long dream."

The agreement for the concession of Egnatia Odos between the Greek state and the Asset Development Fund (TAIPED), as well as the company Nea Egnatia Odos and the original shareholders, GEK Terna and Egis Projects was signed on Friday, according to TAIPED. 

Motorists using the Egnatia Odos highway (A2) around the Igoumenitsa area may face some delays through Wednesday as maintenance work is carried out on the Aktio-Preveza Undersea Tunnel.

Higher toll fees at toll stations, in both major and auxiliary roads, increased on Greek roads as of Monday, following earlier announcements by concessionaires. 

On Olympia Odos, the new fees implemented for vehicles affect the following highways: Patra-Athens, Antirrio-Ioannina, Corinth-Tripoli-Kalamata and the Lefktro-Sparta section, as well as the Rio-Antirrio bridge. 

Toll prices }will be hiked by an average of 7-7.5% as of January 1, according to the new rates published by the six operators of Greece's national highways, in line with an agreement with the Infrastructure Ministry.

This means, for example, that the Athens - Thessaloniki trip for a regular sized family car will increase by 2.20 euros to €33.55.  

The exit of the Attiki Odos towards the Athens-Lamia Highway (Exit 8) leading from the Athens International Airport toward Piraeus will be shut down from 10:00 p.m. on Saturday  to 10:00 a.m. on Sunday for heavy repairs to the tarmac.

Cars formed long lines on national roads around Attica on Sunday afternoon, as voters returned from voting centers outside the capital.

Traffic was particularly heavy on the Athens-Corinth national highway heading to Athens, particularly from the Corinth Canal  to Nea Peramos.