New Metropolitan Attica S.A. undertakes the study entitled “Improvement – Modernization and Upgrade of Safety and Signage of the Old National Road Athens–Corinth (PEOAK) from Elefsina to Megara” on behalf of the Region of Attica.

The project “Improvement – Modernization and Upgrade of Safety and Signage of the Old National Road Athens–Corinth (PEOAK) from Elefsina to Megara” involves the preparation of traffic studies for the upgrade and improvement—by section—of the existing roadway, along with a comprehensive safety and signage study for the entire road link.

The section under study is the Old National Road (PEOAK), from Elefsina to Megara, with a total length of approximately 12.4 km. The road segment begins at the Eftaxia junction of PEOAK, just after the Elefsina Shipyards, continues along the coastal zone passing through the areas of Loutropyrgos and Neraki, traverses Nea Peramos—where it goes under the name “28th October Street”—and ends at the southern edge of the city of Megara, at the Olympia Odos highway.

Specifically, the study includes the following components:

• Traffic study – road improvement
• Signage and safety study
• Hydraulic study – stormwater drainage
• Special architectural study
• Topographic survey
• Electromechanical study – street lighting
• Environmental assessment – Preliminary Environmental Impact Assessment (PEIA)
• Health & Safety Plan and File (HSP–HSF)
• Tender documentation

The Old National Road Athens–Corinth was constructed prior to 1945. Since then, improvements and partial interventions have been made to its signage and safety equipment. However, its geometric characteristics and cross-sectional designs have not been modernized. Moreover, in the urban sections of the road, it has become necessary  to accommodate adjacent properties and better facilitate pedestrian movement, roadside parking and other functions for which it is not properly equipped. At the same time, property boundaries, public utility poles, overgrow vegetation and trees with extensive roots not properly attended to, walls and other physical obstacles impinge upon the space of the road, effectively reducing much of its width and hindering safe traffic flow at a considerable number of points along its course.

These issues—combined with the increased traffic load resulting from the urbanization of the surrounding areas (Neraki, Loutropyrgos, and Nea Peramos) and the frequent use of this route by drivers traveling between Megara and Elefsina—create safety concerns and impair functional performance, contributing to a high number of accidents.

Consequently, the modernization of the road, the upgrade of its safety infrastructure, the application of appropriate urban and interurban cross-sections, the study of stormwater drainage systems (crucial for flood protection in adjacent areas where such networks are incomplete), the provision of lighting and all other elements required by modern standards constitute top strategic priorities for the Region of Attica.