OPINION

Fix our roads, then raise tolls

It is perfectly understandable for motorists in Greece to have reacted negatively to the increase of toll prices on a number of important national highways around the country, an increase that was ostensibly imposed in order to raise funds for much-needed maintenance work on the national road network. But what citizens have seen over the past couple of decades is that they are constantly being asked to pay more, while they very rarely see any significant progress being made regarding the quality of national highways. So of course they will lash out when they see the same pattern being repeated, and especially at a time when, as citizens, they already feel that they have given up enough for the recovery of the country’s economy. The state needs to go back to the drawing board and tie the progress made by the consortia hired to carry out maintenance to the payment of their fees. If the system is not re-evaluated and changed, we will simply see more and more motorists refusing to pay the toll charges and a prevalence of lawlessness.

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