Driving on Corfu roads is an Extreme Sport!

Poor maintenance, substandard work, the weather conditions and torrential rainwater all cause great damage to the island’s roads and yet funding for maintenance costs is not considered an ‘option’.

Following complaints from residents in the Pelekas area, Enimerosi photographed the tragic condition of the main road there. Exceptional driving skills were required just to avoid damaging the car! Road subsidence and erosion as well as wild grass trying to reclaim its lost land from the weather-beaten and damaged tarmacadam – and winning.

     The road to Ermones.     

The continuous use of the run-down road by buses, lorries and farm vehicles aggravates the situation. One can often find gravel or soil on road bends – creating problems for even the best drivers. Motorcyclists – of which there are plenty during the summer period – are forced to navigate the potholes and patched-up repair work on the roads at great risk to themselves. Residents say that the authorities are indifferent to the situation and the patch-up jobs by the technical services just make matters worse.

The reason for ‘patch-up’ jobs

The Region of Ionian Islands announced this week that it had signed two contracts worth 700,000 Euros for work on the roads in north and south Corfu. Another contract is expected to be signed for the central region. However, this falls far short of the amount needed, considering that the municipality’s technical services themselves have claimed that complete work on the road network would require at least 20-25 million Euros (as stated by the former deputy mayor, Nikos Anastasopoulos, at a council meeting in 2017).

Who is responsible for maintenance?

The Regional and Municipal services are legally responsible for the maintenance of the roads belonging to them and are obliged to ensure the smooth flow of traffic and avoidance of danger and damage to persons and property.

Inspection and road maintenance

Maintenance services are obliged to inspect the roads they are responsible for at least every two weeks to check for damage and anything else that may jeopardise the safety of the roads. The supervisor is obliged to record their findings in a special service book.

The police are obliged to inform these maintenance services immediately and in writing of any damage to the road or other issues they observe which could be of danger to road users.

Any member of the public can also report any issue in writing to the maintenance services (fax, e-mail, letter etc.) and this is also recorded in the service book.