After landing in Athens International Airport and the first warm welcome from the guide of every delegation, we will move through the Attica Tollway (Attiki Odos) to reach our second stop in EUSO Athens 2014, the place which will host us for a week, Hotel Stanley.
Attica Tollway is a pioneering project constructed on a concession basis and constitutes one of the biggest co-financed road projects in Europe. It belongs to the first generation of co-financed projects awarded in Greece during the ’90s and essentially paved the way and laid the foundations for the execution of future successful concession contracts, in Greece and in other European countries.
Attica Tollway is a modern motorway extending along 65 km. It constitutes the ring road of the greater metropolitan area of Athens and the backbone of the road network of the whole Attica Prefecture. It is an urban motorway, with two separate directional carriageways, each consisting of 3 lanes and an emergency lane (hard shoulder). The suburban railway of Athens has been constructed in the central reservation of the motorway. Attica Tollway constitutes a unique piece of infrastructure, even in European terms, since it is essentially a closed toll motorway, within a metropolitan capital, where the problem of traffic congestion is acute.
Attica Tollway is part of the PATHE road axis (Patra – Athens – Thessaloniki – Evzoni) and connects the Athens – Lamia National Road with the Athens – Κorinthοs National Road, by-passing the centre of Athens. Being a closed motorway, it has controlled access points and consists of two sections, which are perpendicular to one another:
The Elefsina – Stavros – Spata A/P motorway (ESSM), extending along approximately 52 km, and The Imittos Western Peripheral Motorway (IWPM), extending along approximately 13 km.