Billboard drive gathers pace
A crackdown aimed at clearing Athens roadsides of illegally erected billboards, spearheaded by the Infrastructure, Transport and Networks Ministry, today shifts from Pireos Street to Kifissias Avenue, where a plethora of such signs have been blamed for several road accidents. Workers are to start tearing down billboards from roadsides at 9 a.m. and will continue until all the offending signs have been dismantled, a ministry source said. Apart from posing a hazardous distraction for motorists, the billboards have also been condemned as eyesores by residents lobbying for their removal. The cleanup, organized with the help of the Environment Ministry, is being coordinated by the Unification of the Archaeological Sites of Athens (EAXA), a state body that has been largely inactive since its foundation in 1997. When workers have finished with Kifissias Avenue, they are to move on to other major streets, such as Stadiou and Panepistimiou and to major roads in Piraeus.
