Mouragia raises the alarm once again
The discussion about restricting heavy vehicles in Mouragia began ten years ago, but it was not followed by any decisions. Today, DEYAK linking damage to the sewage pipeline with heavy traffic, and with major interventions at the port just around the corner, Corfu is being called upon to redesign its main road arteries.
The discussion about banning or drastically restricting the passage of heavy vehicles through Mouragia is not new. It has been ongoing for at least a decade.
At the beginning of Kostas Nikolouzos’ term as mayor, the issue of protecting this particular route was raised.
At the time, the main argument concerned the protection of the Venetian fortifications and the historic seafront. The idea of excluding or restricting heavy vehicles met with strong opposition. Representatives of the construction sector argued that concerns about damage to the fortifications were exaggerated, even dismissing the warnings as “fantasies”.
Ten years later, reality has disproved that certainty. Not necessarily because it has been proven that the walls are at risk, but because it has become clear that heavy traffic is causing serious impacts on underground infrastructure. DEYAK itself links the repeated problems with the sewage pipeline to the strain caused by the continuous passage of heavy vehicles.
The unfortunate reality is that, during these ten years, the necessary preparations do not appear to have been made. No alternative routes were planned for lorries. The town’s traffic study was not updated. There was no assessment of how Corfu would function once major port projects began or when new tourism infrastructure increased traffic demands even further.
Today, all these issues are converging. The Lamda construction site at the main port, the future operation of a tourist marina at Spilia, the need to protect the sewage network, and the possible ban on heavy vehicles passing through Mouragia are creating an entirely new situation.
And the problem is not limited to traffic within the town. Mouragia is one of Corfu’s two main exits towards the northern part of the island. The other is via Solari. If the first route can no longer handle a significant share of traffic, the entire burden will shift to the second. The second route, which has evolved from a national road into yet another commercial area of the town.
Therefore, a new traffic ban alone is not enough. What is required is a new transport strategy for the entire town and its wider urban area.
GIORGOS KATSAITIS
