Traffic Park to finally start operating again
Traffic Park
03 Feb 2022
/ 19:55
CORFU. The Municipality΄s contract work for ‘Improving accessibility of the Biological Station and Traffic Park’ is in progress.
After a decade of abandonment, the Corfu Traffic Park, located near the Biological Station, is about to start operating again.
The contract work for ‘Improving accessibility of the Biological Station and Traffic Park’ is in progress and, according to the Deputy Mayor for Technical Works Nikos Kalogeros, the project is expected to be completed in February. As he told Enimerosi, a comprehensive intervention will be necessary, something that was also a pre-election promise of the current Municipal Authority.
The project has a budget of €31.680 and it concerns work that is required in order to improve the Municipal site and the access road to the Biological Station and the Traffic Park. The works include excavations, construction of a retaining wall, surfacing works in certain parts and pavements. The same contract also provides for landscaping of the traffic park, clean-ups and removal of grass, building work, toilets, painting and maintenance of the park equipment (electric cars, bicycles).
“Work on the entrance and the area in front of the Biological Station has been completed and, in the next few days, clean-up and building work within the Traffic Park will follow,” said Mr. Kalogeros.
It should be reminded that the Waste Transfer Station operated illegally near the Biological Station and it would often be occupied by mountains of rubbish. According to Mr. Kalogeros, the site has now been cleared and the rubbish has been removed, following a cooperation between the Municipality’s Cleaning Department and Technical Works Department.
“We had included the restoration work in the 2020 technical programme. However, due to the procedures that had to be done, it started after the ‘Ballos’ storm in October and in 20-25 days it will be ready. At the same time, the area outside the Biological Station has been changed and is now in excellent condition. The work is progressing,” Deputy Mayor for Cleansing Yiannis Seremetis told Enimerosi.
Ten years
Although the Traffic Park is useful and the role it will play on road safety is very important, it had been abandoned for a decade. The occasional lack of staff that the Municipal Authorities had, is one of the main reasons for it, along with the rubbish of the Waste Transfer Station.
Through the ESPA Programme
The Traffic Park had been constructed through the ESPA Programme and Corfu schools and organisations quickly embraced it and visited it often, as part of educational programmes. There, primary school pupils were being trained in real-life conditions on road safety issues using electric cars and bicycles.
“When I worked there as a volunteer, from 2005 to 2010, 6,000 primary school pupils had visited the park. It operated as a smaller version of the town’s streets, roads, intersections and traffic lights,” said a teacher who worked there. According to the Deputy Mayor for Technical Works, once the traffic park is ready, a meeting will be held to discuss how it will operate.
The contract work for ‘Improving accessibility of the Biological Station and Traffic Park’ is in progress and, according to the Deputy Mayor for Technical Works Nikos Kalogeros, the project is expected to be completed in February. As he told Enimerosi, a comprehensive intervention will be necessary, something that was also a pre-election promise of the current Municipal Authority.
The project has a budget of €31.680 and it concerns work that is required in order to improve the Municipal site and the access road to the Biological Station and the Traffic Park. The works include excavations, construction of a retaining wall, surfacing works in certain parts and pavements. The same contract also provides for landscaping of the traffic park, clean-ups and removal of grass, building work, toilets, painting and maintenance of the park equipment (electric cars, bicycles).
“Work on the entrance and the area in front of the Biological Station has been completed and, in the next few days, clean-up and building work within the Traffic Park will follow,” said Mr. Kalogeros.
It should be reminded that the Waste Transfer Station operated illegally near the Biological Station and it would often be occupied by mountains of rubbish. According to Mr. Kalogeros, the site has now been cleared and the rubbish has been removed, following a cooperation between the Municipality’s Cleaning Department and Technical Works Department.
“We had included the restoration work in the 2020 technical programme. However, due to the procedures that had to be done, it started after the ‘Ballos’ storm in October and in 20-25 days it will be ready. At the same time, the area outside the Biological Station has been changed and is now in excellent condition. The work is progressing,” Deputy Mayor for Cleansing Yiannis Seremetis told Enimerosi.
Ten years
Although the Traffic Park is useful and the role it will play on road safety is very important, it had been abandoned for a decade. The occasional lack of staff that the Municipal Authorities had, is one of the main reasons for it, along with the rubbish of the Waste Transfer Station.
Through the ESPA Programme
The Traffic Park had been constructed through the ESPA Programme and Corfu schools and organisations quickly embraced it and visited it often, as part of educational programmes. There, primary school pupils were being trained in real-life conditions on road safety issues using electric cars and bicycles.
“When I worked there as a volunteer, from 2005 to 2010, 6,000 primary school pupils had visited the park. It operated as a smaller version of the town’s streets, roads, intersections and traffic lights,” said a teacher who worked there. According to the Deputy Mayor for Technical Works, once the traffic park is ready, a meeting will be held to discuss how it will operate.
