The next steps for the start of the Patras – Pyrgos road

By Eleni Botas

Finally, it enters one of the most painful projects in the country, on the road Patras – Pyrgos, after the green light that was given yesterday by the Commission for the financing of 217 million euros of the project from the Greek State.

Following the approval of the Commission, the contract is expected to be submitted for approval to the Court of Auditors and then for ratification in Parliament, while the start of work is expected next March.

The Greek state participates in the financing of the project with a percentage of 65% and with 35% Olympia Odos (shareholders of which are: Vinci Concessions SAS with 29.9%, Hochtief PPP Solutions GmbH with 17%, J & P-Avax with 19.1% , Aktor Concessions with 17%, GEK Terna with 17%), with equity and bank loans.

In addition to public funding of € 217 million, a higher share of toll revenue is envisaged for the concessionaire under the concession contract to support certain agreed and contractual maximum costs, and a return for the concessionaire that reflects the construction of the concession extension of the concession period under the contract in case the concessionaire does not achieve a certain return until the end of the current concession period.

The new 74.5 km long axis will have a design speed of 120 km / h, 8 uneven junctions, 15 bridges and 64 crossings. It will have an Operation and Maintenance Center with a Traffic Management Unit and a police station.

The construction period of the project is 40 months.

The history

On April 4, 2014 the Patras-Pyrgos-Tsakona section is excluded from the Project through a Ministerial Decision. The unfinished works executed by the Construction Joint Venture of Olympia Odos until June 2011 were recorded and transferred to the responsibility of the state.

In September 2014, the Concession Company and the Construction APION KLEOS completed the studies of the Patras-Pyrgos department and handed them over to the State for a public tender.

In 2015, the state divided the Patras Pyrgos department into 8 contracts and proceeded with a public tender.

In 2018, after a long process, the state signed 3 (out of 8) contracts. Since then progress has been very slow (less than 1%).

In the second half of 2019, the new government decided to re-integrate the Patras-Pyrgos section in the Olympia Odos Concession project.

In January 2020, the Memorandum of Understanding was signed between the State and Olympia Odos, in which basic terms and conditions were agreed.

In March 2020 the state canceled the 8 public contracts. Regarding the compensations given by the Ministry to the installed contractors, they amounted to 8 million euros.

High blood tax

Patras-Pyrgos, after the completion of Corinth-Patras in 2017, is the bloodiest road in the country, perhaps in Europe. In the three years 2016-2018 alone, 37 fatal road accidents were recorded, in which 43 people lost their lives, about one lost every month. During the same period, there were 11 serious and 124 slightly injured.

The main causes are the bad road (lack of maintenance), the level junctions, illegal unsafe entrances and exits to the road, the problematic planning of the 1980 project and the lack of operational staff.

It is characteristic that in the case of Corinth-Patras, the reduction of fatal accidents from the day of the start of the Concession Project until today is of the order of 93%, which highlights the importance of road construction with specific characteristics, but also the existence of an integrated service mechanism road safety.

The benefits of the project

The construction of the Patras – Pyrgos section, according to the local bodies, will offer ease of road access to areas that are currently blocked and will give Ilia the opportunity to rearrange its tourist and development environment in general.

This will result in the economic, social and cultural convergence of Ilia with the other two Prefectures of the Region of Western Greece, as the existence of a new modern road network often entails other structures in health, education and tourism.