Nicosia mayor defends Makarios avenue reopening amid criticism

Nicosia mayor Charalambos Prountzos on Thursday again defended the recent decision to partly reopen Makarios avenue to normal traffic, saying that singling out the municipality for criticism is hypocritical.

Last month municipal councilors had voted for the central Nicosia street to reopen for traffic. Makarios avenue is to reopen to all private vehicles on weekdays between 7am and 9pm.

Meanwhile between 9pm and 7am on weekdays and on weekends, the avenue will be used only by authorised vehicles – buses, taxis, residents and employees of the area, as it had been until now.

The new traffic arrangements will apply from the Lycavitos police station up to and including Solomou square.

The European Commission had co-funded the restoration of Makarios avenue on condition that it restricted traffic. The cash had come from the Cohesion Fund, part of a programme promoting ‘sustainable urban mobility’.

But the municipality has found itself alone, taking flak from all sides for its decision – including from the transport ministry, the Scientific and Technical Chamber, as well as from a number of MPs.

In parliament on Thursday, the Nicosia mayor said that Cyprus as a whole has not done enough to limit greenhouse gas emissions from vehicles – so it was unfair to single out the municipality.

Prountzos recalled that Cyprus has undertaken commitments to set up a tram network in the Nicosia and Limassol districts, as part of an EU co-funded Sustainable Urban Mobility Plan (Sump).

But Cyprus has not done so, he said.

“Is the state ready to commit €600 million to create a tram system in Nicosia and Limassol? And is it ready to proceed within three years with bus lanes and the expansion of the Pame Express service?

“Because if not, we need to know this, and that would render hypocritical the questions posed about Makarios avenue by those who have not taken decisions to really reduce emissions and alleviate traffic congestion in Nicosia.”

Pame Express is a park-and-ride service running from the GSP stadium to Nicosia city centre.

Meantime it emerged that the police chief has yet to approve the new traffic arrangements that would come about under the Nicosia municipality’s decision to reopen Makarios avenue.

The police chief must sign off on any new traffic arrangements.

In addition, it remains unclear whether the European Commission will sanction the municipality for its decision – for example by ‘blacklisting’ the municipality and making it ineligible for future funding.