Limassol Mayor meets with ETEK delegation on 26/3/2019

On Tuesday, 26/03/2019 a meeting was held in the presence of the Mayor of Limassol, Mr Nicos Nicolaides and a group of representatives of the Cyprus Scientific and Technical Chamber (ΕΤΕΚ) headed by their President, Mr Stelios Achniotis.

The meeting, which was held at the initiative of the Mayor of Limassol, took place in a friendly and positive atmosphere. The Mayor reiterated once again that he aims at a continuous and constructive cooperation with the ETEK, which is the statutory Technical Advisor to the State on matters of technical nature.  The discussion focused mainly on Limassol’s Sustainable Urban Mobility Plan, while a new meeting was appointed to analyse a number of significant issues on the Municipality which were also brought up during the meeting.

In relation to Sustainable mobility, the Mayor reiterated that the Municipality and its services fully support the implementation of the Sustainable Urban Mobility Plan and that all the projects that are being or that are planned to be carried out comply with the principles of Sustainable Mobility. With reference to the traffic congestion in Limassol, the Mayor mentioned that the Municipality has to deal with a number of pressing issues on a daily basis relating to the overall viability and development of the City Centre.  He further noted that there is an urgent need for interventions to take place in order to revive the city centre for the benefit of its residents and visitors. One of these interventions is the optimisation of the functionality of the parking lot on Andreas Themistokleous str.

Providing more information to ETEK’s delegation on the planned regeneration of the existing parking lot on Andreas Themistokleous street, the Mayor stressed that this would meet the following three conditions:  

1. Optimisation of parking spaces
2. Maintenance and enhancement of green areas
3. Creation of a central bus station to bring the Public Transport System back to the city centre.  

The Mayor highlighted the fact that the increase in parking spaces will be achieved by installing a demounted car park, which will be dismantled when the remaining measures of the Sustainable Urban Mobility Plan pay off. He also referred to the 3 park-and-ride facilities planned by the Municipality (north, east and west of the city centre) in order to decrease congestion and improve mobility in the city for all citizens who want to visit the city centre. 

The President of the ETEK thanked the Mayor for the invitation and underlined that the ETEK’s objective is to cooperate with Local Authorities. He also mentioned that ETEK is ready to give its view on any matter at any time through constructive dialogue. The President added that the ETEK understands the Municipality’s concerns on the regeneration of the City Centre and underlined that the ultimate goal of all actions should be the success and the implementation of the Sustainable Urban Mobility Plan and that it is important to join forces to achieve this goal.