Traffic Chaos on Greek Highways Post-Holiday Weekend

The news in Greek

1. επιστροφή (f.)
   Το να επιστρέφεις, να γυρνάς πίσω. ↩︎
2. αφορμή (f.)
   Η αιτία ή ο λόγος για κάτι που γίνεται. ↩︎
3. προκαλώ
   Είμαι η αιτία για κάτι που συμβαίνει. ↩︎
4. κυκλοφοριακός
   Σχετικό με την κυκλοφορία οχημάτων στους δρόμους. ↩︎
5. διόδια (n.)
   Χρήματα που πληρώνονται για να περάσεις από έναν αυτοκινητόδρομο. ↩︎
6. οδηγός (m.)
   Άτομο που οδηγεί όχημα. ↩︎

Translation

Text Comprehension

Question: What event caused many people to return, leading to traffic problems?

Question: What did the Ministry of Transport do to help drivers?

Vocabulary

Greek	English
επιστροφή (f.)	return
αφορμή (f.)	occasion
προκαλώ	cause
κυκλοφοριακός	traffic
οδηγός (m.)	driver
διόδια (n.)	tolls

Read the full story

Significant slowdowns were reported on the Athens–Lamia National Highway, with cars moving at a crawl due to the reconstruction of a bridge at the 198th kilometre mark. This operation has resulted in a reduction to a single lane for both directions, creating queues that stretched beyond 10 kilometres. Many drivers expressed frustration over not being informed about these construction-related hold-ups at toll points, leading to delays exceeding three hours for a relatively short drive.

Similar scenes unfolded on the Athens–Corinth National Highway as traffic backlogs emerged from Ancient Corinth to Megara. Despite the heavy traffic, those on this route faced somewhat less severe delays compared to the Lamia corridor. By Monday evening, substantial numbers of vehicles, estimating around 32,000 from Athens–Corinth and 26,092 from Athens–Lamia, had returned to the capital. These figures highlight the scale of the post-weekend migration back to Attica.

In Thessaloniki, similar traffic build-ups occurred at the Nea Malgara tolls, where roadworks on the Axios River bridge narrowed three lanes down to one. Delays there also lasted between 30 to 45 minutes as returning travellers navigated the reduced space.

In response to the travel chaos, the Greek Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport took the decision to suspend toll charges at Agia Triada for vehicles travelling towards Athens until midnight, aiming to alleviate driver frustration. Additionally, restrictions were placed on heavy vehicles, prohibiting those over 3.5 tonnes from entering the main highway routes until late evening.

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