Just as the road works in Kalyves have finished, the council has made a commitment to address the traffic issue. Mr Majorakis the former Chair of the traders association is now one of the deputy mayors of Apokoronas and has raised the issue once again.
A meeting of all interested parties, including the mayor, the police the council , the various associations representing residents and businesses in Kalyves and the bus company KTEL “will be held soon – within a week or so” Mr Majorakis told ApokoronasNews , to discuss the deteriorating situation and try to find solutions.
The following is an extract from the article “What happened to the Kalyves traffic plan” published in Apokoronas News on Wednesday 16/10/2013
“The traffic problems in Kalyves were raised again- as they do every year, by the Traders Association. Anyone who drives through Kalyves can’t fail to notice that there is a problem with traffic, particularly in the summer months. In a recent issue AN has published some of the problems with inconsiderate drivers blocking the narrow roads and the heavy volume of traffic in the summer. Now the Trader’s Association of Kalyves is asking for the implementation of ‘the traffic plan regulations’. And in case you didn’t know there was such a plan – and not many people knew about it – there is.
Mr Majorakis , the chairman of the association in Kalyves, has written to the council asking for the road traffic improvements recommended by the traffic plan to be implemented. He tells me that his association have been asking for these improvements for over a year and that the mayor was given a copy of the recommendations made in the plan but it is not clear if it was ever discussed at a council meeting. Apparently the Kalyves traffic plan was developed by a traffic specialist almost two years ago and was paid for by the bus company KTEL. The plan offers a low cost solution to the traffic problems of Kalyves.
It recommends two small one way sections, one around the village square and one around the main junction known to the locals as ‘chaos corner’, which will divert traffic around two of the worst congestion points. Other recommendations include imposing and implementing some parking restrictions, marking the narrow stretches of road with cones or yellow /red lines to stop people parking and pedestrianising small sections of the main road where alternative routes can be created.
These recommendations do no claim to offer anything more than a temporary solution to the traffic problems of Kalyves, but they are a no cost solutionto the problem that could be implemented very quickly. According to Mr Majorakis however, “the council ignores common sense and helpful suggestions and the wishes of the majority of the residents, and listens instead to the opinion of two or three individuals who say ‘no’ to everything”. (Why?)
Mr Majorakis added that it’s not too late even now to do something about the serious problem of traffic in Kalyves, a village which for most visitors is the gateway to Apokoronas and a resort that welcomes thousands of visitors every year”.
The remaining of the article described the sorry state of the roads in Kalyves and the efforts the traders association have made over the years to persuade the council and the region of the need to resurface the village roads.
Let’s see if, now that at last the roads have been resurfaced, a solution to the traffic problems of Kalyves can be found before the height of the tourist season.
