Performance Plus

This article describes how looking to exceed contractual obligations makes good operational and business sense. The Attica Tollway is a modern 65km access-controlled urban motorway with three lanes in each direction. It constitutes the ring road around the extensive metropolitan area of the Greek capital, Athens, and forms the backbone of the entire road network in the Attica region. By ensuring free flow operating conditions, the Attica Tollway facilitates speedy connections between 30 municipalities in Greater Athens. Constructed on a concession basis, it constitutes the largest co-financed road project in Greece and one of the largest in Europe. The project was launched by the Greek state in the early 1990s and following a competitive tender the concession was awarded in 1996 to the Attiki Odos consortium. Since there was no general legal framework for dealing with concession projects at that time, the contract had to be ratified by the Greek Parliament. Full financial close of the project was achieved in 2000 and preceded by a specific financial mechanism that was agreed in 1998 in order to speed up project implementation. This agreement was necessary after the selection of Athens as the host of the 2004 Summer Olympics and allowed finalization in time for the start of the event. Building was in sections: the first opened in 2001 and coincided with the opening of the new Athens International Airport; and the last section opened in March 2004, prior to the 2004 Summer Olympics.The Attica Tollway constitutes the ring road around the extensive metropolitan area of the Greek capital, Athens, and forms the backbone of the entire road network in the Attica region. The Attica Tollway project was a classic BOT project, with the Greek Ministry of the Environment, Physical Planning and Public Works as project owner, Attiki Odos SA as the concession, Attiki Odos JV as the construction joint venture, and Attica Tollway Operations Authority (Attikes Diadromes in Greek) as the operations and maintenance contractor. The Average Annual Daily Traffic (AADT) rose from 231,000 entries on the motorway in 2004 to a peak of 307,000 in 2009 prior to onset of the financial crisis in Greece. In 2010, traffic levels tapered off to 281,000 AADT. These figures correspond to 6-10 per cent of the total traffic in the Athens metropolitan area.

• Record URL:
  http://www.itsinternational.com/features/article.cfm?recordID=4654
• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/oclc/35183091
• Authors:
  • Harito, Jean
  • Morello, Steve
• Publication Date: 2011

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Print
• Features: Figures; Photos;
• Pagination: pp 44-45
• Serial:
  • ITS International
  • Volume: 17
  • Issue Number: 3
  • Publisher: Route One Publishing Limited
  • ISSN: 1463-6344
  • Serial URL: http://www.itsinternational.com

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Annual average daily traffic; Build operate transfer; Concessions; Contract administration; Highway operations; Project management; Road construction; Traffic flow
• Identifier Terms: Attica Tollway; Olympic Games (28th : 2004 : Athens, Greece)
• Geographic Terms: Attica (Greece)
• Subject Areas: Construction; Finance; Highways; Operations and Traffic Management; I73: Traffic Control;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01345732
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Jul 28 2011 10:02AM