Newsroom
If slow and steady really does win the race, Cyprus might just take gold. After a quarter of a century of promises, studies, delays, and political ribbon-cutting, the first 3.6 kilometers of the long-awaited Limassol–Saittas highway have finally been completed.
That’s right, three kilometers down, nineteen to go.
The €26 million first phase, linking the Spyros Kyprianou Sports Center to the Palodia exit, was officially delivered in July 2025, eight months behind its revised schedule and roughly 25 years after the idea was first put on paper.
A 2006 plan for 2032
According to Kathimerini's Thanasis Photiou, the project’s Environmental Impact Assessment Study was submitted back in December 2006, forecasting air and noise pollution levels for the years 2012, 2022, and 2032, clearly assuming that by then, the road would be long finished.
Instead, construction only began in September 2020, after decades of political promises and shifting timetables.
In 2008, then-Transport Minister Nicos Nicolaides announced that tenders would be issued in 2009, construction would start in 2012, and the road would be ready by 2014. A 2013 parliamentary committee later confirmed the project was “on track,” but as history shows, that track didn’t lead to asphalt.
By 2014, amid the financial crisis, the project was officially “postponed until further notice.”
From Easter 2023 to Summer 2025
Work finally kicked off in 2020, with the Public Works Department assigning Cyfield Construction a 30-month timeline, meaning delivery in March 2023.
But in true Cyprus fashion, no major public project ever finishes on time. The company received a 16-month justified extension due to pandemic disruptions, strikes, and last-minute design changes. Then came another 260 days of unjustified delay, triggering fines of €4,500 per day, more than €1 million in total.
When the government finally accepted the project in July 2025, the first 3.6 kilometers of highway were celebrated as a long-awaited “achievement.”
The hard part hasn’t even started
Ironically, engineers describe this first phase as the “easy” bit. The next two phases, A2 (8 km) and B (10.8 km), involve bridges, tunnels, steep terrain, slope reinforcements, and heavy drainage systems. In short, the complicated part hasn’t even begun.
According to Public Works senior engineer Panikos Panagiotou, tenders for the next phase are expected to be issued by the end of 2026, with work slated to begin in 2027. But with environmental reviews, expropriations, and design approvals still pending, even officials admit that forecasting a completion date would be “risky.”
Half a century in the making?
Once the full 23-kilometer road is complete, whenever that might be, the 2006 environmental study that guided it will likely be outdated. Its last time horizon ends in 2032, so a new one may be needed before the motorway can even open fully.
For now, the Limassol–Saittas highway stands as a case study in Cyprus’ legendary patience, a mix of bureaucracy, budget crises, and construction delays that somehow stretch decades.
As the first 3.6 kilometers finally open, one thing seems certain: the road to Saittas isn’t just uphill. It’s timeless.
Timeline:
1998: Project first proposed
2006: Environmental study completed
2012: Promised start date
2020: Construction finally begins
2025: First 3.6 km delivered
