Nicosia and Strovolos will face near-total traffic gridlock if the Alexandroupoleos Road project is not built, with congestion reaching 99% saturation by 2034, Transport Minister Alexis Vafeades has warned.
In a response to MP Alexandra Attalidou’s parliamentary question about the planned Strovolos project, Vafeades said traffic saturation indices could exceed 100% without the road—a level that would bring major delays and long vehicle queues with severe environmental consequences.
Daily monitoring of traffic data collected from the Public Works Department’s permanent meters between 2023 and 2025 shows traffic increases of 7% to 10% in the Strovolos area and across the rest of Nicosia’s road network.
The traffic data used in the 2020 traffic study is now lower than current conditions on the road network, according to the minister.
A traffic study by the Public Works Department’s Traffic Studies and Road Safety Branch in July 2020, with projections to 2034, evaluated impacts on the road network around Strovolos’s core under “with project” and “without project” scenarios.
Results from “with project” scenarios for 2024, 2029 and 2034 show traffic load reductions in the area of around 30%, whilst within the Strovolos core these reach up to 70%.
The study also found that in 2020, the area’s road network was at saturation limits (beyond 86%), which was confirmed by on-site examinations.
If the project is not implemented, these conditions will worsen and the saturation index will increase by 14% to 25%, reaching congestion levels of 99%—with saturation indices beyond 100% also appearing, according to Vafeades.
Saturation indices beyond 85% characterise congestion conditions associated with major delays and queues of waiting vehicles, with consequent environmental impacts.
The updated model used for the traffic study took into account the revised design of Tseriou Avenue (Strovolos municipality), the urban project for Argyroupoleos/Hippocrates streets, and the Nicosia Ring Road (A22).
The model incorporated measurements taken in February 2020 on Alexandroupoleos Road, Elaionon Road, Makedonitissa Avenue and Evzonon Road. For peak hours and seasonal variations, data was used from the revised traffic model and field measurements.
The Public Works Department also used traffic data from its permanent traffic meters on Strovolos Avenue at two points, Elaionon Road, Tseriou Avenue and Archangelos Avenue.
Construction of Alexandroupoleos Avenue will bring significant reductions in pollutant emissions on Strovolos roads, reaching up to 60% in the municipal core, Vafeades said.
According to the “without project” scenario, the further burden on residential areas and Strovolos’s core from the projected increase in vehicle traffic and emissions will be very large, the minister’s response stated.
A flora and fauna survey in the project area at the two new bridge construction sites on the Pedieos found no rare or threatened species are expected to be affected. Most trees expected to be removed are foreign species, mainly eucalyptus and acacias.
During project implementation, hundreds of new indigenous trees will be planted, which will be many times more than those affected, Vafeades told Attalidou. These will contribute to the long-term enhancement of flora and fauna in the project area.
All alternatives examined
On Attalidou’s question about whether lower-cost alternatives with less environmental burden had been examined—such as completing the Dia junction-Agroти bridge-Strovolos Police-Makarios Hospital axis—the minister said all possible alternative solutions had been examined, particularly for bypassing the old Archbishop Kyprianos reservoir (which provoked intense discussion).
The solution proposed by the involved services was adopted. Choosing another solution was judged more difficult to implement and more expensive, whilst it was estimated it would bring the greatest burden in terms of environmental impacts.
There is no alternative solution for improving the existing connection, Vafeades told Attalidou, in the sense that the proposed solution passes through residential areas, causing environmental problems, whilst from a traffic perspective it is already saturated as a route during peak hours. Based on the proposed scenario, the number of through movements would also increase to a huge unmanageable degree, the minister added.
Updated traffic and environmental studies have been completed over the last 10 years regarding the planned construction of Alexandroupoleos Road, and these show the project’s construction is imperative, the minister said.
Responding to Attalidou’s reference that “more than 25 years have passed since the original design of the project, which is based on urban planning data from the 1990s, without an updated traffic or environmental study having been carried out”, Vafeades said the original environmental study was completed in 2011 by the Town Planning and Housing Department on an earlier project design, with a positive decision from the Environmental Authority dated 18 November 2011.
Following public presentations in 2014 and 2020 and a redesign of the project in 2021, a new study was completed by the Town Planning and Housing Department with a new positive re-evaluation dated 13 April 2021.
The project was placed in public consultation by the Environmental Authority before a final decision was made.
