EU to fund Nicosia orbital motorway with €32.9m

The European Commission (EC) said it will co-finance the construction of the Nicosia South Orbital Motorway with €32.9 million, as well as a Eurocontrol project that Cyprus is participating in.

In total, the EC said it will be co-financing 107 infrastructure projects across Europe with a total of €6.2b in grants, targeted at supporting sustainable, safe and efficient transport. The projects include major cross-border rail connections and the development of maritime ports.

According to a statement, the grants come from the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) and over 80% of the funding will support projects that deliver a more efficient, greener, and smarter network of railways, inland waterways and maritime routes along the trans-European transport (TEN-T) network. The projects are also targeted to bolster the EU-Ukraine Solidarity Lanes, set up to facilitate Ukraine's exports and imports.

The 107 projects have been selected from a total of 353 submitted in response to the call for proposals, published in 2022. EU funding will take the form of grants, which will be used to co-finance total project costs.

The Nicosia South Orbital Motorway will connect it with the motorway towards Limassol. According to the EC, the main benefits of the project include reduced travel time in the greater area of Nicosia, reduction of congestion and decreasing its environment impacts.

Cyprus, along with another 22 member states, is also participating in a project overseen by Eurocontrol which aims to improve interoperability and efficiency of air traffic management. The project will be granted €71.3m.

The project includes a rolling plan that allows the major European hubs to reduce congestion, delays and unnecessary carbon and noise emissions; an operational concept that allows aircraft to fly more direct routes when crossing the European skies, allowing a reduction of flight times and significant savings of CO2 emissions; and a set of common standards, protocols and digital services that allow Aviation stakeholders to exchange aeronautical and flight information seamlessly.

(Source: CNA)