Nicosia businesses renew call to reopen Makarios Avenue to traffic

Nicosia, Cyprus. Businesses and shopkeepers have renewed calls for Makarios Avenue to reopen to traffic, saying two out of every three shops along the street remain empty.

Call for traffic changes

The joint platform for the “revitalisation of the urban commercial core” said the avenue had become a “dead zone” since restrictions on private traffic were introduced.

It called for two-way traffic to be allowed on the southern side of Makarios Avenue.

Municipal response

Nicosia mayor Charalambos Prountzos said the matter was not new and that the municipality was working to implement a municipal council decision to amend traffic regulations without creating a risk that European funding for the project would have to be repaid.

He said the previous municipal council had adopted the traffic regulations as part of the redevelopment project and the Sustainable Urban Mobility Plan.

Prountzos said he submitted a proposal to amend the regulations after taking office, but it was amended by a majority of the municipal council.

“There is a decision by the city council, which we are trying to implement without the risk of the taxpayer having to pay back the funding provided for the project, and that is where we are now,” he said.

Ongoing discussions

The mayor said discussions with the platform were continuing on issues concerning the historic centre and Makarios Avenue traffic regulations.

“With the platform, we are discussing several issues related to the redevelopment of the historic centre and the traffic regulations of Makarios, so the opinions are respected,” he said.

The platform said a municipal council decision in May last year to partially reopen the avenue to cars had not yet been implemented, describing the delay as the result of “bureaucracy and obsessions”.