The inauguration of the E65 motorway took place on Tuesday morning. Kyriakos Mitsotakis attended the event and spoke about the important construction project.
During his speech, the Prime Minister underlined the value of the project and its development potential, noting that “today is a great day as we are handing over a road of enormous development importance”, recalling that “these projects would not have been done without the help of the European Union. The New Democracy put the country in the European Union, kept it in the European Union and is fighting within Europe”, he characteristically said.
The Prime Minister’s statements in detail: “It is a great day for Central Greece, for Thessaly, for Western Macedonia, for Epirus as we deliver to traffic the largest section of a very important road. I know very well, especially for Western Thessaly, how important this road is. It takes 2.5 hours to go from Athens to Karditsa, three hours to go to Trikala. Accessibility for such a beautiful but also such a tested part of our homeland, but also the prospects for the connection with the completion of the project with Western Macedonia and Epirus. A road of enormous developmental importance.
I too would like to add just a few thoughts about the history of this project. A project that went through 40 waves. It was tested in the financial crisis. It came to be a stump. Only the middle section has been delivered. The southern part faces significant technical problems and the northern part, which complements the road and makes it economically competitive, is in a financial vacuum.
In fact, if it wasn’t for the persistence of the Government and a tough negotiation with the European Commission, we would never have been able to secure the completion of the northern section, which I believe will be delivered within two years at the latest, so that after this whole road would have completed exactly as it was designed fifteen years ago.
We know very well that every time a motorway is delivered, the number of accidents is reduced with the aim of halving the number of accidents by 2030. This project and many others would not have been realized without the support of the EU. ND is the party that put Greece in Europe, kept it in Europe and strives to become Europe by translating funding into tangible projects. Here you see the contribution of the NSRF and the Recovery Fund
In 2019 we committed to making Greece a vast construction site and now the projects are being implemented for the benefit of local communities. But planning major projects is an ongoing process. We are closing the backlogs of the past years with the motorways. At the same time, other projects of regional importance are being launched”.
Staikouras: “Motorway that forms the backbone of the transport infrastructure of Central Greece”
The Minister of Transport, Christos Staikouras, spoke about a highway that is the backbone of the transportation infrastructure of Central Greece. As he said “the southern part that is delivered starts from PATHE, crosses the prefecture of Fthiotida and ends in Xyniada. The second section, the northern one, connects Trikala with Egnatia Road with funding from the Recovery and Resilience Fund and today the first 25 km are being delivered.”.
He then pointed out “the southern part that is delivered starts from PATHE, crosses the prefecture of Fthiotida and ends in Xyniada. The second section, the northern one, connects Trikala with Egnatia Road with funding from the Recovery and Resilience Fund and today the first 25 km are being delivered.”.
Then he pointed out that the project is “extremely important because faster and more economical movements are achieved, the safety of road movements and transport is strengthened, regional development and tourism are promoted by contributing to the reduction of unemployment, access to the outside world is facilitated as through Egnatia it is connected to the outside world”.
The Motorway of Central Greece – E65
The E65 highway, built by TERNA, is 182.1 km long and is one of the most important national projects, with a total budget of approximately 1.397 billion euros.
It has the necessary capacity of a modern 2-lane highway in each direction plus an Emergency Lane and is being built entirely on a new alignment connecting Eastern and Western Greece.
With the delivery of the new sections of the E65, 136 km of modern, safe highway are in circulation, from I/K to the A.Th.E. (206.5 km) up to A/K Kalambakas.
Important tourist destinations such as Meteora, Lake Plastira, Karpenisi, Trikala are now accessible, quickly, easily and safely, while a new development dynamic will be given to the core of the country.
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