It was signed today in the presence of the Minister of Infrastructure and Transport, Mr. Kostas Karamanlis and Deputy Minister of Infrastructure Mr. Yorgos Karagiannis contract for its first part BOAC (Naples – Agios Nikolaos).

The contract was signed by the Director of the Special Public Works Service, Mr. Dimitrios Anagnopoulos, and the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the contracting company AKTOR, Mr. Christos Panagiotopoulos.

The Neapolis – Agios Nikolaos BOAK section will be built as a community project. It is included in the Recovery Fund and the Public Investment Program until 2021, and the project budget is 169 million euros.

It is expected that the first construction sites will be created and construction work will begin immediately.

Karamanlis: In the next few weeks we will see the first construction sites in Crete

Mr. Karamanlis, in his statements at the signing of the contract, emphasized that:

“Today is a great day for Crete and especially for the prefecture of Lassithi, but also for all of Greece. Because today begins and officially becomes a reality the largest road project that will be built in our country in the coming years. Today, with the signing of the contract for the first section of BOAK Neapolis – Agios Nikolaos to be built as a community project, we are setting the first decisive milestone so that Crete finally gets the national highway it deserves.”

The Minister of Infrastructure and Transport noted that: “The Northern Road Axis of Crete is a highway that, when completed, will connect the island from Kissamos to Sitia. With a total length of 294 kilometers and an estimated budget of more than 2 billion euros. The largest road project that the EU will finance in the coming years.”

He recalled that: “As we all know, this project has been a constant and the biggest demand of all Cretans for decades. A must for a place with rapid tourism development and intense activity in the primary sector. But it is also something else: a project that the Greek state owes to all the families who mourned the victims on the pavement of this road.”

Then Mr. Karamanlis emphasized: “Today, therefore, practically marks the beginning of the construction of the BOAC. Over the next few weeks we will see the first construction sites in Crete. As we said. Once again, our actions confirm our words.”

“BOAC serves development and road safety”

He also recalled that: “We announced this a year before Crete along with Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis himself. This is what we were committed to. What will we see bulldozers in 2022. And you see, that’s exactly what we’re doing.”
After all, he noted that: “BOAC is also the personal rate of the prime minister. Because this is a project that fully serves the two important goals he set: development and road safety.”

Mr. Karamanlis also recalled that: “In order to achieve a real and implementable project, we needed to take concrete steps. In other words, provide three necessary conditions for each road project: Funding, Design, Timing.

So, first of all: we secured funding. We took advantage of all available financial instruments and, of course, the possibility of the Recovery Fund.

Secondly, we finalized the design of the project.

And thirdly, we set a specific and very tight schedule for each stage of the project.”

On the last leg of the journey Hersonissos – Naples and Chania – Heraklion

Mr. Karamanlis announced that: “In the next period, we will also enter the last section of the Hersonissos-Naples route, which is implemented through PPP. And, of course, Chania-Heraklion will be next, which will be concluded with a concession agreement, and we will soon move on to phase B of the competition.”

“We have already laid a solid and solid foundation for the projects that will lead our country into the next decade”

In conclusion, he reiterated the following: “We have developed and are implementing step by step a full $13 billion project program, of which we have already bid $9.6 billion and contracted nearly $4 billion. a solid foundation for the projects that will lead our country into the next decade. Thus, we fulfill our duty to the younger generation. To bequeath to them a more modern country with stronger conditions for development and progress.”

Finally, Mr. Karamanlis thanked all his partners and wished a successful start to the contractor and a good start to the great Crete Northern Road Axis project and concluded: “For our part, we will be closely following the progress of the project, so that 36 months from today should be delivered ready citizens of Lassithi and Crete.”

Giorgos Karagiannis: Crete will acquire a motorway worth more than 2 billion euros

For his part, the Deputy Minister of Infrastructure and Transport responsible for infrastructure, Mr. Giorgos Karagiannis, said: “Soon all Cretans will see this long-awaited BOAK project begin. The Neapolis-Agios Nikolaos section, a €169 million project, gives impetus to the largest road project under construction in Greece, and one of the largest in all of Europe.”

He also emphasized that: “Crete will become a huge construction site in the coming years, and with the completion of all projects, it will acquire a motorway worth more than 2 billion euros, which will significantly improve the development prospects and comparative advantages of its economy and provide increased levels of road safety and environmental protection. Wednesday.”

In addition, he noted that “in the near future, the promotion of other departments is expected, contracts will be signed and work will begin. The project provides for many uneven interchanges, an extensive side network and many kilometers of underground work.

In conclusion, he pointed out that: “3 years ago we received little or no planning maturity, with fragmented interventions scattered along the axis, without the coherence and necessary characteristics of a modern highway. Today is further proof that with political will, determination and ability, anything is possible. Because at the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport, we prefer to talk less and do more.”

The aim of the project is to study and build the beautification works of the Neapolis – Agios Nikolaos BOAK section, with the construction of a four-lane artery, with two lanes and a 14.5 km expressway in each direction, and its transformation into a highway.

In particular, the project will improve and widen the existing road from the first entrance to Neapolis to the Krittsas junction in Agios Nikolaos.

A complete network of junctions and secondary roads (approximately 2 km and 9 km respectively) will also be designed and built to connect areas on both sides of the new near-modern highway.

In addition, three uneven interchanges (Neapolis, Limnon and Agios Nikolaos), five bridges, eight underpasses and five works to partially and completely block traffic lanes and support works (Cut & Cover), as well as hydraulic works to drain the river. streets and rainwater runoff, and creek and creek settlement projects.

BOAK is the largest road project currently under construction in all of Europe and an absolutely essential project for Crete as it will allow for fast and above all safe travel.

The implementation of the project is currently starting, as the first construction sites will be created immediately (at the beginning of autumn) on the Neapolis – Agios Nikolaos section, by the end of the year the Hersonissos – Naples section will follow and a large one by the end of 2023 will also begin the Chania – Heraklion section, which has already received an environmental license.

At the same time, as part of the overall planning of the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport, the maturation of BOAK studies to Sitia continues. It is expected to be ready for tender by the end of 2022 for the sections of Kalo Chorio – Fruzi Bridge and Pachias Ammos bypass, for which environmental conditions have already been approved.

The Naples-Agios Nikolaos section will be implemented as a public project, the Hersonissos-Naples section (22.44 km long and a budget of 290 million euros) as a PPP and the Chania-Heraklion section (157.5 km long and a budget of 1.32 million euros). billion euros) in the form of a concession agreement.

It is expected that the contract for “Chersonissos” – “Naples” will be signed in the fall.

For Chania-Heraklion, the environmental conditions were approved on July 20, and the tender has now moved to the second stage of the submission of mandatory proposals by the participants in the tender process before the end of the year, so that the contract for the project can be awarded. during 2023.