The official awarding of a contract to construct the Chania (Hania)-Heraklion (Iraklio) portion of the long-awaited new tollway along the coast of northern Crete is expected in days, following roughly a year after Athens-based and ATHEX-listed construction and concession conglomerate GEK Terna submitted the highest bid in an international tender.
The specific portion of the roadway will operate as a tollway by the company that constructs it, with the overall coastal highway – known in Greek with the acronym BOAK – remaining one of most pressing projects for the island. The current roadway is on par with provincial roads, featuring one of the highest accident rates in the country, including an inordinate number of fatal traffic incidents.
The contract that will be finalized includes 157 kilometers of highway, at a cost of 1.8 billion euros. It will feature a closed two-lane roadway in either direction, and a service road to the right. No less than 26. Twenty overpasses are also planned, with another 18 overpasses in use now to be upgraded at the bypasses for the cities of Chania, Rethymno and Iraklio.
The contract from the successful tender will come up for Parliament ratification this month, according to reports, before being submitted to the Court of Audit and relevant EU services (DG-Comp and DG-Move).
