Paphos People

CONFUSION REIGNS over the status of the Kato Paphos seafront road, with locals divided over whether the stretch should be open to vehicles or pedestrians.

A few weeks ago the road was opened to traffic, as Mayor of Paphos Savvas Vergas bowed to pressure from shopkeepers and his fellow council members.

But it seems the general opinion of people using the area want the seafront road to revert back to a pedestrian-only zone.

Locals are complaining about the lack of respect for pedestrians, and also claim motorcycles and quad bikes are speeding down the one-way street, sometimes in the wrong direction.

“I live close to Ikarou street in Kato Paphos,” said Moira Papadopoulou, “and we complained until we were blue in the face that an accident would happen there, because drivers were speeding.”

“No one took any notice of us, and then an old lady was killed by a motorist as she was crossing the road. It’s the same thing with the sea front now,” she complained.

“I’ve had a few near-misses myself. I was walking with my grandson recently and a motorbike was speeding the wrong way towards us as we were crossing the road. It only just missed us and my grandson was very frightened. It will take someone to be killed before anything is done,” she said.

Head of Paphos traffic police Zenon Psathites agreed with Papadopoulou, telling the Cyprus Mail that the traffic police believed it would be better if the area had stayed closed to vehicles.

He added, “The decision of our municipal council was to open the road, so we must respect that.”

Psathities said any complaints about traffic in the area would be followed up by a stronger police presence.

Vergas recently stopped metal posts dividing the walkway and the road from being put in, and appealed to his fellow councillors to vote in favour of keeping the area a pedestrianised zone.

But the majority of councillors voted in favour of opening the road to traffic. Shopkeepers on the seafront had complained that if the road weren’t opened their businesses would fail.

“I had to leap out of the way of a quad-bike zooming the wrong way weaving onto the road and then swerving onto the promenade followed closely by a number of mopeds. There wasn’t a police officer in sight, and these morons were laughing their heads off,” fumed resident Clive Marvell. “It’s a complete catastrophe.”

Paphos retiree Enid Avery agreed.

“It’s total madness,” she exclaimed. “There are no kerb-stones; they’ve been replaced by revolting metal bollards. My sympathies lie with the mayor, who doesn’t seem to be able to make the councillors see sense.

“I’ve been told that a couple of council members have businesses in the area, and they wanted the road open to traffic, so it’s no surprise,” she shrugged.

She added, “We had a chance to have a beautiful area free of pollution, but instead we’ve made it into a racetrack for unruly teenagers and moronic drivers.”

Local feeling suggests the harbour road upgrade was a missed opportunity, which could have been used to help encourage more visitors and families to the area. In addition traffic is directed though a poorly lit parking lot before joining the traffic flow back on the main road.