Highways in Greece

Highways in Greece are generally organized so that the odd numbered highways are of north-south alignment and even numbered highways are aligned east-west. However there are many exceptions.

The designation of some important roads of Greece as "national" was decided by a 1955 decree. A minister's decision of 1963 determined the numbering of these roads. In 1998 a survey of the National Statistic Authority of Greece defined some new national roads that were constructed after the 1963 decision. Motorway numbers are different and irrelevant to other highways' numbers. For example, Motorway 6 refers to Attiki Odos, while "GR-6" refers to a different road.

Motorways

The route of the 8 motorways of Greece, a part of which is under construction.

• Motorway 1 (A1), colloquially referred to as the PAThE motorway (derived from the initials of the route: Piraeus – Athens – Thessaloniki – Evzoni (the border crossing with the Republic of Macedonia)); is the oldest and most important motorway of Greece, connecting the coutry's largest cities, Athens and Thessaloniki, passing through many important regions of Greece, on a south-north direction. A few parts of this route are not up to motorway standards yet, but works are underway in upgrading them to such. These parts are located along the Malian Gulf and Tempe Valley. As of summer 2008, works were in progress around the Malian Gulf, due to be completed in 2011, while a large part of the route around the bay, was completed in April 2008. At Tempe valley, works were due to start in 2008, to be completed around 2012, to include 11 km of tunnels, made mostly for environmental protection. Furthermore the section between Thessaloniki – Evzoni, is yet to be converted into motorway; and is expected to happen some time in the future. The full length of this motorway is around 553 km or 346 miles, including 14 km or 8.7 mi of shared route with the A2 (Egnatia Odos). Note that until recently, the "P" in "PAThE" referred to Patras, but the Patra – Athens section has now become part of the A8 Olympia Odos motorway 8 belonging to a different project.

• Motorway 2 (A2), colloquially referred to as the Egnatia Odos or Via Egnatia, is a new motorway starting at the port of Igoumenitsa and ending at the Turkish border crossing in Evros. It is known as the "horizontal road axis" of Greece, connecting almost all of Northern Greece from west to east; and provides access to various other locations, as well as international borders with various "vertical routes" that begin from various locations along the A2. Specifically, there are auxiliary routes to Albania and Bulgaria, with the main route leading to Turkey. The Republic of Macedonia is accessed through the A1 (PAThE), as described above. Another auxiliary route runs close to the Evros river in the prefecture of the same name, reaching a point where Greece's , Turkey's and Bulgaria's borders meet. Some of those auxiliary routes are not motorways, but typical 2-lane highways, but are of considerable higher quality than other similar highways in the rest of Greece. The project (including the auxiliary routes), was completed in 2009, with the length of the main route being 670 kilometres or 416 miles, making it the longest motorway in Greece.
  • Motorway 25 (A25) is a branch of A2 and lies between Thessaloniki and Nea Moudania. It is known as the Thessaloniki – Nea Moudania Motorway or Chalkidiki Motorway, on what used to be the GR-67. Its first 8 km/5 mi (from Thessaloniki exit till the Macedonia International Airport intersection) are of a 6-lane motorway and passes through Thessaloniki's southeast suburbs, forming a vital arterial for the city. The next 29 km/18 mi (until the Sozopolis intersection) are of a 4-lane divided motorway and the last 17 km/11 mi (until Nea Moudania ) are a 2-lane undivided highway, under construction to be transformed into a 4-lane divided motorway. The first section of the route is shared with Greek National Road 16.

• Motorway 3 (A3), or the Central Greece motorway is another one starting from Lamia (at the A1) and ending at the A2 (Egnatia Odos), close to Grevena. It will be part of the E65 and be 175 kilometres or 109 miles long.. Construction started on June 2007, and it is expected to be complete after 5 years.

• Motorway 4 (A4) is a planned motorway from Larissa to Trikala, connecting the A1 motorway with the A3 respectively. It will carry the E92 and it will be an upgrade of the existing GR-6 between those cities. Construction and completion dates remain unknown as of late 2010.

• Motorway 5 (A5), referred to as the Ionia Odos, or Via Ionia is another motorway currently under construction. It starts from Ioannina at the A2 (Egnatia Odos) interchange, and ends at Rio, in Patras, after crossing the Corinthian Gulf through the Rio-Antirrio bridge. There, it connects to the A8 and A9 motorways (see below). The route passes through most of western continental Greece, along the Ionian Sea, hence its name "Ionia Odos". Work on the majority of the highway began in spring 2006 and will span 6 years, to be completed by 2012. Some parts that were previously completed included the Arta bypass and the Agrinio bypass.

• Motorway 6 (A6), or Attiki Odos forms part of the urban motorway network of Athens' Metropolitan Area. Its full length is 65 kilometres or 40.4 miles, and is also planned to be extended to various directions, bringing its total length to 141 km or 88 miles. The Attiki Odos has various auxiliary routes, namely the Aigaleo Beltway (A65) and the Hymettus Beltway (A64), serving parts of western and eastern Athens respectively; while the small 6 km (4 mi) section leading from the main route to the Athens International Airport is numbered as the A62. A small part of the A65, remains still unconstructed, and it is yet unknown when it will be completed.

• Motorway 7 (A7), known as the Moreas Motorway or Eastern Peloponnese motorway starts from Corinth, at the interchange with the A8 (Olympia Odos) and continues to Kalamata, passing through Tripoli. It replaced the old GR-7 as the main road, with the section between Corinth and Tripoli, constructed between 1984 and 1990 and officially becaming part of the Greek road network in 1992. The A7 has recently undergone extensive improvement to full motorway standards. The Tripoli-Megalopoli section has been completed while the remaining Megalopoli-Kalamata section is to be completed by the end of 2011. The Lefktro-Sparta branch (A71) is also under construction and due to open in 2012. Its total length will be 205 kilometres or 127 miles.

• Motorway 8 (A8), referred to as the Olympia Odos, is the motorway under construction, from Athens to Patras. It begins in Elefsina, at the interchange with A6 (Attiki Odos) and will end in Patras. The Elefsina – Corinth section has been completed to motorway standards, while the Corinth – Patra section begun construction in 2008, and is due to be completed in 2012. It will mostly inlcude the widening and general reconstruction of the GR-8A.

• Motorway 9 (A9), part of Olympia Odos is the planned motorway that will start from Patras, to Pyrgos and join with the A7 (Moreas) at Tsakona. The point where this part of the Olympia Odos splits with the A7 is at Patras, were the interchange with the [[Ionia Odos|A5 (Ionia Odos) will be. Construction on this motorway began along with the A8, but will be completed on 2014. The A8 and A9 together are also referred to as the Northwestern Peloponese Motorway, since the A8 runs along the north of the Peloponnese, and the A9 to the west.

• Motorway 90 (A90) is a temporary name for a motorway under construction in Crete. It is more widely known as North Road Axis of Crete (Greek: Βόρειος Οδικός Άξονας Κρήτης, BOAK). Certain parts have already been completed, as of summer 2007. Its full length will be 310 kilometres or 193 miles. Other sources claim it to be 250 km or 156 mi.

National roads

• Greek National Road 1: Athens – Lamia – Larissa – Thessaloniki – Evzonoi - Republic of Macedonia, replaced by Motorway 1
• Greek National Road 2: Albania - Krystallopigi – Florina – Edessa – Thessaloniki – Kavala – Xanthi – Komotini – Alexandroupoli – Feres - Turkey (runs parallel to Egnatia Odos from Thessaloniki to Alexandoupoli)
• Greek National Road 3: Elefsina – Thiva – Livadeia - Lamia – Farsala – Larissa – Elassona – Kozani – Florina – Niki - Republic of Macedonia
• Greek National Road 4: Kozani – Veria – Chalkidona
• Greek National Road 5: Antirrio – Agrinio - Amfilochia – Arta – Ioannina
• Greek National Road 6: Igoumenitsa – Ioannina – Metsovo - Trikala – Larissa – Volos (runs parallel to Egnatia Odos from Igoumenitsa to Metsovo)
• Greek National Road 7: Corinth – Argos – Tripoli – Megalopoli – Kalamata
• Greek National Road 8: Athens – Corinth – Aigio - Patras old road
• Greek National Road 8A: Athens – Corinth – Patras new road (partly motorway)
• Greek National Road 9: Patras – Pyrgos – Methoni
• Greek National Road 12: Thessaloniki – Serres – Drama – Kavala
• Greek National Road 13: Elassona – Katerini
• Greek National Road 14: Drama – Xanthi
• Greek National Road 15: Kalambaka – Grevena – Neapoli – Kastoria – junction with GR-2
• Greek National Road 16: Thessaloniki – Arnaia - Ierissos
• Greek National Road 17: Ioannina - Dodoni
• Greek National Road 18: Preveza – Filiates
• Greek National Road 20: Ioannina – Konitsa – Neapoli – Kozani
• Greek National Road 21: Preveza – Filippiada
• Greek National Road 22: Kakavia (Albanian border) – Kalpaki (junction with GR-20)
• Greek National Road 24: Corfu (city) - Palaiokastritsa
• Greek National Road 25: Corfu (city) - Lefkimmi
• Greek National Road 26: Elassona – Deskati - Karpero (junction with GR-15)
• Greek National Road 27: Amfissa – Lamia
• Greek National Road 29: Itea - Desfina - Steiri
• Greek National Road 30: Arta – Trikala – Karditsa – Farsala – Volos
• Greek National Road 31: Aigio – Kalavryta
• Greek National Road 33: Patras – Panopoulo – Psofida - Vlacherna
• Greek National Road 34: Volos - Argalasti - Platania
• Greek National Road 35: Zakynthos - Keri
• Greek National Road 36: Mytilene – Kalloni - Mithymna
• Greek National Road 38: Thermo - Agrinio – Karpenisi – Lamia
• Greek National Road 39: Tripoli – Sparta – Gytheio
• Greek National Road 42: Vasiliki - Lefkada – Vonitsa – Amfilochia
• Greek National Road 44: Thiva – Chalcis – Karystos
• Greek National Road 48: Antirio – Nafpaktos – Galaxidi – Livadeia
• Greek National Road 50: Argostoli – Sámi
• Greek National Road 51: Feres – Didymoteicho - Orestiada – Ormenio - Bulgaria
• Greek National Road 53: Alexandroupoli - Aisymi - Metaxades – Ormenio
• Greek National Road 55: Xanthi - Kotyli - Bulgaria
• Greek National Road 56: Athens - Piraeus
• Greek National Road 57: Drama – Exochi - Bulgaria
• Greek National Road 59: Nea Zichni – Amfipoli
• Greek National Road 62: Karlovasi – Samos
• Greek National Road 63: Serres – Sidirokastro - Promachonas - Bulgaria
• Greek National Road 65: Thessaloniki - Kilkis
• Greek National Road 66: Nemea – Levidi
• Greek National Road 69: Thasos ring road
• Greek National Road 70: Corinth – Epidavros – Nafplio – Argos
• Greek National Road 74: Pyrgos – Olympia – Tripoli
• Greek National Road 75: Kardamyla – Vrontados – Kallimasia
• Greek National Road 76: Krestena – Andritsaina – Megalopoli
• Greek National Road 77: Chalcis – Mantoudi - Istiaia - Aidipsos
• Greek National Road 79: Malakasa – Skala Oropou
• Greek National Road 81: Afidnes – Kalamos
• Greek National Road 82: Pylos – Kalamata – Sparti
• Greek National Road 83: Anoixi – Marathon – Rafina
• Greek National Road 85: Rafina – Lavrio
• Greek National Road 86: Krokees – Monemvasia
• Greek National Road 87: Pallini – Spata
• Greek National Road 89: Markopoulo Mesogaias – Lavrio
• Greek National Road 90: Kissamos – Chania – Rethymno – Heraklion – Agios Nikolaos – Sitia
• Greek National Road 91: Vouliagmeni – Sounio
• Greek National Road 95: Rhodes (city) – Lindos
• Greek National Road 97: Heraklion – Tympaki
• Greek National Road 99: Heraklion – Arkalochori

Correlation with European routes

This is a list of European routes that shows which parts of them run through Greece.

Major routes:

• E55: GR-18, Preveza – Rio – Patras, Patras – Pyrgos – Kalamata through GR-9, GR-9A and GR-7
• E65: Medžitlija-Níki (border with the Republic of Macedonia) – Florina – Kozani – Elassona – Larissa – Lamia through GR-3, Lamia – Amfissa – Galaxidi through GR-27, Galaxidi – Antirio through GR-48, Antirio – Rio – Corinth through GR-8A, Corinth – Tripoli through motorway, Tripoli – Kalamata through GR-7, Kissamos – Chania through GR-90
• E75: border with the Republic of Macedonia – Thessaloniki – Athens through GR-1, Chania – Aghios Nikolaos through GR-90
• E79: Bulgarian border – Serres through GR-57, Serres – Thessaloniki through GR-12
• E85: GR-51
• E86: Albanian border at Kristalopigi – Florina – Edessa – Gefyra (west of Thessaloniki), through GR-2
• E90: Egnatia Odos or Via Egnatia, Igoumenitsa - Thessaloniki - border with Turkey
• E92: GR-6
• E94: Attiki Odos and Athens – Corinth through GR-8A

Other routes:

• E853: Kakavia (Albanian border) – junction with GR-20
• E951: GR-5
• E952: Preveza-Amfilochia partly through GR-42, Amfilochia – Karpenisi – Lamia partly through GR-38
• E961: GR-39
• E962: Elefsina – Thiva through GR-3

Note: when certain highways that carry European routes are replaced with motorways, the European routes will be re-assigned to the new motorways. For example, GR-7 carries the E65 from Tripoli to Kalamata. When the Corinth – Tripoli – Kalamata motorway is complete, E65 will run through it and not through GR-7 anymore.

See also

• Transportation in Greece
• Greece
• European routes
• List of roads and highways

External links

• A greek motorways fan page