A six-lane freeway outside your window
Imagine living so close to a freeway that you can hear the roar of the traffic, smell the exhaust fumes and see the headlights and traffic lights from your bedroom window. When the road in question is the continuation of two of Greece’s major roads and will be used by at least 200,000 cars in each direction every day, would you want to live in an apartment near such a street, even if were a gift? This is the situation facing residents of Neo Faliron and Moschato who are unlucky enough to live near the Kifissos River. The new artery is a continuation of the Athens-Lamia highway to Poseidonos Avenue on the coast at Faliron. Part of the Olympic Ring and one of the major projects of recent years, it will ease traffic congestion at the junction of Pireos Street and Kifissou Avenue. But it will also be a constant obstacle for the entire purely residential area as far as 500 meters from the sea. For the many residents of other areas who haven’t followed the development of the project but will start using it in June, this new road will be just another modern highway. For local residents, however, the raised highway (at many points as high as the third story of neighboring apartment blocks) has forced them out of their homes.
