The Greek Motorway 8 ( el, Αυτοκινητόδρομος 8), is a

motorway A controlled-access highway is a type of highway that has been designed for high-speed vehicular traffic, with all traffic flow—ingress and egress—regulated. Common English terms are freeway, motorway and expressway. Other similar terms i ...

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...

. Part of the

Olympia Odos Olympia Odos is a toll motorway system on the Peloponnese in Greece. Starting from Eleusis in the Athens metropolitan area, the Olympia Odos motorways follow the Gulf of Corinth to the Rio–Antirrio bridge and the city of Patras, and along ...

network, the motorway connects

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...

with

Patras ) , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographics1_title2 = , demographics1_info2 = , timezone1 = EET , utc_offset1 = +2 , ...

in southwestern Greece, spanning a total of . The motorway replaces Greek National Road 8A, which has been upgraded to modern motorway standards. The completion date was scheduled for 2014. Since April 2017, the entire motorway from Eleusis to Patras is fully operational.Olympia Odos, the motorway from Eleusis to Patras, in operation
on ypodomes.gr

Operation

''Olympia Odos S.A.'' will maintain and operate the road for a total of 30 years. Operations will include two Traffic Control Centers built to operate 24/7 in order to handle emergency calls, as well as monitor traffic situations and contact emergency services when needed. Also, as part of the construction deal, 24/7 patrols, worksite protection, timely detection and response to incidents, and special services in the winter, are included. During the construction phase, routine maintenance and work for all parts of the infrastructure of the existing National roads had been conducted.

Facilities

, there are 4 toll stations on the A8: at

Eleusis Elefsina ( el, Ελευσίνα ''Elefsina''), or Eleusis (; Ancient Greek: ''Eleusis'') is a suburban city and Communities and Municipalities of Greece, municipality in the West Attica regional unit of Greece. It is situated about northwest ...

, the Isthmus,

Zevgolateio Zevgolateio ( el, Ζευγολατειό) is a town in the municipality Velo-Vocha, Corinthia, Greece. It is located 82 kilometers west of Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capi ...

and

Rio Rio or Río is the Portuguese, Spanish, Italian, and Maltese word for "river". When spoken on its own, the word often means Rio de Janeiro, a major city in Brazil. Rio or Río may also refer to: Geography Brazil * Rio de Janeiro * Rio do Sul, a ...

. The section between Eleusis and Corinth has 3 lanes per direction. There are service areas in Nea Peramos,

Megara Megara (; el, Μέγαρα, ) is a historic town and a municipality in West Attica, Greece. It lies in the northern section of the Isthmus of Corinth opposite the island of Salamis Island, Salamis, which belonged to Megara in archaic times, befo ...

, Isthmus, Kiato,

Akrata Akrata, ( el, Ακράτα) is a town and a former municipality in Achaea, West Greece, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Aigialeia, of which it is a municipal unit. The municipal unit has an area of 180. ...

and Aigio.

Construction progress

On September 2, 2016, the first fully completed Olympia Odos segment, the section between

Ancient Corinth Corinth (American English: ) (British English: ) ; grc-gre, Κόρινθος ; grc, label=Doric Greek, Ϙόρινθος; la, label=Latin, Corinthus) was a city-state (''polis'') on the Isthmus of Corinth, the narrow stretch of land that jo ...

and Kiato (20 km with 2 lanes in each direction + emergency lane and two interchanges in Zevgolatio and Kiato), was officially opened to traffic, with the presence of the

Greek Prime Minister The prime minister of the Hellenic Republic ( el, Πρωθυπουργός της Ελληνικής Δημοκρατίας, Prothypourgós tis Ellinikís Dimokratías), colloquially referred to as the prime minister of Greece ( el, Πρωθυ� ...

Alexis Tsipras Alexis Tsipras ( el, Αλέξης Τσίπρας, ; born 28 July 1974) is a Greek politician serving as Leader of the Official Opposition since 2019. He served as Prime Minister of Greece from 2015 to 2019. Tsipras has led the Coalition of th ...

. Although there were still some minor scale works (mostly on interchanges), traffic flow was not impacted. On the same day, the Derveni tunnels were given to public use. On December 19, 2016 another 9 km opened in

from Kiato to

Xylokastro Xylokastro ( el, Ξυλόκαστρο) is a seaside town or village and a former municipality in Corinthia in the Peloponnese, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Xylokastro-Evrostina, of which it is a unit ...

, without the Xylokastro interchange which was opened in February together with Derveni Interchange. Any remaining segments of the motorway under construction were completed and opened to traffic in April 2017 when the official inauguration of the road took place as well, at the same month that segments of the A5 motorway and the A1 motorway's Tempe tunnels were also inaugurated and opened to traffic.

Tunnels

Westbound (direction Patras)

* Geraneia Tunnel () * Efpalinos Tunnel () * Aithra Tunnel () *

Panagopoula Tunnel The Panagopoula Tunnel ( el, Σήραγγα Παναγοπούλας) is a tunnel on the Corinth- Patras section of the Olympia Odos motorway. The name comes from the namesake area of Panagopoula. It consists of two separate sections, one which ...

()

Eastbound (direction Athens)

() * Derveni Tunnel () * Skyron Tunnel () * Thiseas Tunnel ()

Exit list

References

External links

Olympia Odos official website
{{Greekroads 8 Roads in Attica Roads in Western Greece Roads in Peloponnese (region) el:Ολυμπία Οδός