Athens to Turn Central Avenue into Pedestrian Walkway
Athens Mayor Kostas Bakoyannis announced this week that works would soon begin to convert central Vasilissis Olgas Avenue into a pedestrian walkway.
The ambitious project, budgeted at approximately 4.6 million euros, is scheduled to be completed in 12 months’ time and foresees the redevelopment of the central thoroughfare into a pedestrianized lane that will connect several key Athens sites, including the Temple of Olympian Zeus with Zappeion Park, the Athens National Garden, Ardittos Hill and the Panathenaic (Kallimarmaro) Stadium.
“Today we are taking another step towards materializing the vision of [former culture minister] Melina Mercouri and [former Athens mayor] Antonis Tritsis with the unification of the Temple of Olympian Zeus with Zappeion Park and the National Garden,” said Bakoyannis, describing the new avenue as “one of the most beautiful routes in Europe”.
Architects have made efforts to extend Vasilissis Olgas Ave off Zappeion Park. Additionally, besides the pedestrianized lanes – all accessible to people with disabilities – the avenue will still include tram lines. Some 158 trees and 8,538 shrubs will be planted to add shade and create a natural setting and hundreds of new lights will be installed.
According to the municipal authority, the project – to be funded by the Τransport Μinistry – will be completed in 12 months as long as there are no archaeological finds during the project excavations.
The project is one of a series across the Greek capital aimed at improving the standard of living for its residents and enhancing the visitor experience. The urban overhaul of Athens has so far included the redevelopment of central Panepistimiou St and Syntagma Square, city park projects, pedestrian walkways, and city square and park cleanups, as well as the creation of a metro station at Exarchia Square and the revamp of Strefi Hill.
The project will be undertaken by the municipality’s Athens Anaplasis SA together with the company awarded the commission.
Looks nice, but the 2 lanes of the tram should be grass, not stone. This is standard in many european cities, when they build new tramways.
Nice plan. I think there is also space for a separate bikelane (not on the tramlane or on the pedestrian lane). And also green under the tramlane will make the street more green and lowers the surface temperature.
When will the tram line be reinstated to terminate close to Syntagma as it originally did? The plans for the pedestrian and tram only Vasilissis Olgas Avenue is a great one! Melina would have been proud to know this.