EU funding is supporting the construction of the southernmost section of the A3 Central Greece motorway. The new section will run the 32.5 km between Lamia, capital of the Central Greece region, and the village of Xyniada. It will be a dual carriageway, with two lanes on each side of a central reservation. The width of the central reservation will vary from 2.5 m to 3.8 m, while the design speed of the motorway will be 110-120 km/h.
- 20 February 2020
Work under the project includes building a twin-tube tunnel of just under 3 km in length in Domokos, and 11 bridges, of which one is over 250 m long. Three interchanges – at Lamia, Karpenissi and Xyniada – and two junctions – one with the A1 motorway, the other at Anthili – will be built, as will a toll plaza to the north of the Karpenissi interchange.
A road maintenance centre, a service area at Lianokladi and several rest areas are to be set up. Further construction work covers engineering structures such as viaducts, culverts and retaining walls, and noise barriers.
Additional elements of the project are related to performance of archaeological surveys, acquisition of land, drainage, procurement of road safety equipment and modifications to national and local roads.
Linking key Greek motorways
When completed, the Central Greece motorway will have a total length of 181.5 km and form part of European route E65. From the south-east to the north-west, it will start at the junction with the A1 near Lamia and end at a junction with the A2 Egnatia Odos motorway, close to the town of Grevena.
The Lamia-Xyniada section completes the motorway network around Lamia and constitutes the southward continuation of the 78.5 km middle section of the A3 between Xyniada and the city of Trikala. Opened to traffic in December 2017, the Xyniada-Trikala section was built at a cost of EUR 906.1 million, with some of the funding provided by the EU.
Faster, safer journeys and economic benefits
By increasing transport capacity and reliability, improving infrastructure quality and strengthening connections within Central Greece’s road network, the project will raise levels of comfort and shorten journey times for travellers.
As current shortcomings in the regional transport system act as a disincentive to investment, the new section of motorway will have a significant socioeconomic impact. It will provide a substantial boost to economic, cultural and tourist development in cities like Lamia, Karditsa and Trikala, and in the regional units of Continental Greece and Thessaly as a whole, leading to increases in employment and incomes.
The motorway’s contribution to the establishment of an internally cohesive road network and better interregional links will also foster socioeconomic development further afield. Additional benefits will come through much-needed improvements in road safety in continental Greece and Thessaly.
Total investment and EU funding
Total investment for the project “Construction of section Lamia-Xyniada of the Central Greece motorway (E65)” is EUR 391 676 000, with the EU’s Cohesion Fund contributing EUR 255 000 000 through the “Transport Infrastructure, Environment and Sustainable Development” Operational Programme for the 2014-2020 programming period. The investment falls under the priority “Trans-European road network and road safety”.