Bid to secure Grand Walk restrictions after ruling

The Environment Ministry on Thursday submitted a legislative amendment in Parliament which foresees the continuation, for at least another four months, of traffic restrictions introduced in central Athens earlier this year as part of the Grand Walk, an ambitious project involving a network of paths for pedestrians and cyclists across the city center. 

The amendment, which foresees an extension of the measures “for urgent reasons of tackling serious threats to public health by reducing the risk of transmission of the coronavirus,” came after a court ruling on Wednesday putting the brakes on the project due to the way it was legislated.

It foresees the extension of the measures at least through February 2021. 

The ruling by the Council of State did not take issue with the substance of the project but with the fact that the measures were imposed via a fast-track procedure that didn’t require parliamentary approval.