Central Greece Motorway
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Motorway 3 (A3), or the Central Greece motorway is a partially completed motorway in
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 ...
. It will lead from the Motorway 1 near
Lamia LaMia Corporation S.R.L., operating as LaMia (short for ''Línea Aérea Mérida Internacional de Aviación''), was a Bolivian charter airline headquartered in Santa Cruz de la Sierra, as an EcoJet subsidiary. It had its origins from the failed ...
to the Motorway 2 near
Grevena Grevena ( el, Γρεβενά, ''Grevená'', , rup, Grebini) is a town and municipality in Western Macedonia, northern Greece, capital of the Grevena regional unit. The town's current population is 13,374 citizens (2011). It lies about from Athe ...
, passing
Karditsa Karditsa ( el, Καρδίτσα ) is a city in western Thessaly in mainland Greece. The city of Karditsa is the capital of Karditsa regional unit of region of Thessaly. Inhabitation is attested from 9000 BC. Karditsa ls linked with GR-30, the ...
,
Trikala Trikala ( el, Τρίκαλα; rup, Trikolj) is a city in northwestern Thessaly, Greece, and the capital of the Trikala regional unit. The city straddles the Lithaios river, which is a tributary of Pineios. According to the Greek National Stati ...
and
Kalambaka Kalabaka ( el, Καλαμπάκα, ''Kalabáka'', alternative transliterations are ''Kalambaka'' and ''Kalampaka'') is a town and seat of the municipality of Meteora in the Trikala regional unit, part of Thessaly in Greece. The population was ...
. It will carry the
European route E65 European route E65 is a north-south Class-A European route that begins in Malmö, Sweden and ends in Chania, Greece. The road is about in length. Route * **: Malmö ( ) – Ystad *Gap (Baltic Sea) ** Ystad - Świnoujście * **: Świno ...
. Upon completion, starting from the plain of
Phthiotis Phthiotis ( el, Φθιώτιδα, ''Fthiótida'', ; ancient Greek and Katharevousa: Φθιῶτις) is one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of the administrative region of Central Greece. The capital is the city of Lamia. It is border ...
near Lamia, it will cross the
Othrys Mount Othrys ( el, όρος Όθρυς – ''oros Othrys'', also Όθρη – ''Othri'') is a mountain range of central Greece, in the northeastern part of Phthiotis and southern part of Magnesia (regional unit), Magnesia. Its highest summit, ''Ge ...
mountains, the plains of western
Thessaly Thessaly ( el, Θεσσαλία, translit=Thessalía, ; ancient Thessalian: , ) is a traditional geographic and modern administrative region of Greece, comprising most of the ancient region of the same name. Before the Greek Dark Ages, Thes ...
and the mountains Antichasia,
Chasia Chasia ( el, Χάσια) is a forested mountain range in the northern Trikala (Thessaly) and the southern Grevena (Western Macedonia) regional units, northern Greece. It is an eastern extension of the Pindus mountain range. The elevation of its ...
and
Pindos The Pindus (also Pindos or Pindhos; el, Πίνδος, Píndos; sq, Pindet; rup, Pindu) is a mountain range located in Northern Greece and Southern Albania. It is roughly 160 km (100 miles) long, with a maximum elevation of 2,637 metres ...
. Its total length will be 174 km. The concession company is Kentriki Odos SA, which is a joint venture of
ACS Group ACS, Actividades de Construcción y Servicios, S.A. () is a Spanish company dedicated to civil and engineering construction, all types services and telecommunications. It is one of the leading construction companies in the world, with projects i ...
,
Ferrovial Ferrovial, S.A. (), previously Grupo Ferrovial, is a Spanish multinational company involved in the design, construction, financing, operation (DBFO) and maintenance of transport infrastructure and urban services. It is a publicly traded company ...
and GEK Terna. Tendering began in May 2005 and ended on 31 May 2007 with the signing of the contract. The commencement of the 30 years concession period started in March 2008. The middle section between
Xyniada Xyniada ( el, Ξυνιάδα) or Xynias (Ξυνιάς) is a village and a former municipality in Phthiotis, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Domokos, of which it is a municipal unit. In the 2011 census, ...
and
Trikala Trikala ( el, Τρίκαλα; rup, Trikolj) is a city in northwestern Thessaly, Greece, and the capital of the Trikala regional unit. The city straddles the Lithaios river, which is a tributary of Pineios. According to the Greek National Stati ...
was inaugurated and opened to traffic on December 22, 2017. In October 2018 the
European Commission The European Commission (EC) is the executive of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with 27 members of the Commission (informally known as "Commissioners") headed by a President. It includes an administrative body o ...
approved the funding for the construction of the southern section, Xyniada -
Lamia LaMia Corporation S.R.L., operating as LaMia (short for ''Línea Aérea Mérida Internacional de Aviación''), was a Bolivian charter airline headquartered in Santa Cruz de la Sierra, as an EcoJet subsidiary. It had its origins from the failed ...
.


History

The concession agreement for the construction of the project was signed in 2008 and the construction, which began in 2009, lasted 2 years and stopped in 2011 due to the
financial crisis A financial crisis is any of a broad variety of situations in which some financial assets suddenly lose a large part of their nominal value. In the 19th and early 20th centuries, many financial crises were associated with banking panics, and man ...
. At the end of 2013 the concession agreement was amended and it was decided to proceed to the immediate construction of the central middle section, Trikala - Xyniada, with a length of 80 km and costing 547.000.000 euros, while construction of the northern (Grevena-Trikala) and southern (Xyniada-Lamia) section was postponed. The middle section between Xyniada and Trikala was inaugurated and opened to traffic on December 22, 2017. In October 2018, the European Commission approved Greek public funding of €306 million for the construction of the 32,5 km long southern section of Xyniada - Lamia, linking motorways A3 and A1. Subsequently, the concession was sent to the Greek
Court of Audit A Court of Audit or Court of Accounts is a Supreme audit institution, i.e. a government institution performing financial and/or legal audit (i.e. Statutory audit or External audit) on the executive branch of power. See also *Most of those in ...
, where it was unanimously approved in early December 2018, and then, on December 20, it was ratified by the
Greek Parliament The Hellenic Parliament ( el, Ελληνικό Κοινοβούλιο, Elliniko Kinovoulio; formally titled el, Βουλή των Ελλήνων, Voulí ton Ellínon, Boule of the Hellenes, label=none), also known as the Parliament of the Hel ...
. The construction phase of the 32 km long southern section is currently underway and it is expected to be completed by 2022, while the 3 km long tunnel passing through the Othrys mountain has already been excavated in both sides, as of October 2021. In July 16, 2021, the 15 km section from the A1 interchange outside
Lamia LaMia Corporation S.R.L., operating as LaMia (short for ''Línea Aérea Mérida Internacional de Aviación''), was a Bolivian charter airline headquartered in Santa Cruz de la Sierra, as an EcoJet subsidiary. It had its origins from the failed ...
to the Karpenisi interchange was opened to traffic, without the
Lamia LaMia Corporation S.R.L., operating as LaMia (short for ''Línea Aérea Mérida Internacional de Aviación''), was a Bolivian charter airline headquartered in Santa Cruz de la Sierra, as an EcoJet subsidiary. It had its origins from the failed ...
interchange and the Lianokladi rest area. Those will be delivered later, along with the other 17 km of the southern section.


Exit list


References

{{Greekroads Motorways in Greece Roads in Western Macedonia Roads in Thessaly Roads in Central Greece