Authorities justify closure of highways during snowstorm

The closure of major highways on Monday and Sunday decided by the traffic police due to bad weather was justified, concessionaire representatives told Kathimerini, as experience shows few drivers are able to put chains on their tires, increasing the risk of accidents.

Authorities also said that if the highways were not closed there was a risk of drivers being stranded. Since Sunday there have been traffic disruptions on a section of Attiki Odos and the Athens-Lamia National Road from the Kaliftaki junction in Kato Kifissia. As officials of Nea Odos (which manages the Metamorfosi-Skarfeia section of the national road) point out, these interruptions were fully justified.

“When the phenomenon began on Sunday afternoon with greater intensity, in Ritsona more than 50 vehicles were immobilized on the highway. They stopped on the road, in any lane, to put on chains. If the traffic police had not taken the decision to close the road at that moment, serious problems would have been created,” a company official said.