If the traffic problem plaguing Limassol in recent years weren’t so serious, we’d almost sound ridiculous with how much we talk, write, complain and grumble about it. A simple drive through the city in the morning or afternoon rush hour (not that there’s ever really a quiet time) is enough to show anyone that the situation has reached its breaking point; with no concrete plan, not even the faintest hope that something might change soon. The small-scale fixes are drops in the ocean, and their late implementation often backfires, eroding public trust in decisions supposedly made to improve traffic management.
Limassol has been experiencing constant, rapid development for years, with private investment far outpacing the city’s public infrastructure. Transport experts say traffic is primarily an urban planning issue, yet all we ever talk about is new roads, widening lanes, and anything else that misses the core of the problem we need to solve. No one has seriously or comprehensively studied the issue in past years. How many more houses, how many more cars, how many more people can Limassol really handle? In the same city that once had 150,000 residents, today there are over 300,000 - without a single new infrastructure project or any real investment in public transport.
No city has ever solved its traffic problem without prioritising and properly developing public transport. New roads may be necessary, but the constant talk about overpasses and tunnels is outdated. Such projects cost millions and deliver minimal results, and not nearly as fast as needed. That’s what the experts say, and it’s time we listen. At the same time, traffic management cannot be the burden of one municipality alone. It is a national issue that requires state-level funding and decision-making mechanisms. Turning one road into a one-way street or building a small local project won’t fix traffic. What could? A mass transit system, a tram or train line, for example. But can a municipality build that on its own? Of course not.
Unfortunately, Cyprus suffers from a chronic lack of long-term planning. We don’t look ahead, or worse, we don’t want to look ahead. Local and regional plans are mostly decorative, while most developments are approved with exceptions by the Council of Ministers. Each minister, with an average tenure of two to three years (five at best), neither has the time nor, it seems, the interest to plan long-term. Instead, they look for quick fixes and photo opportunities, ribbon cuttings, not real infrastructure. If Cyprus decided today to build a tram, even if we moved at record speed, the current officials wouldn’t see any political benefit from it. So why bother? That’s the logic; flawed, but real.
Instead of addressing these structural issues, we keep asking experts for new studies. They do the work, and then we reject it. One day residents protest one-way systems, the next shop owners oppose pedestrianisation, then office managers complain about parking, and the cycle repeats. A proper traffic study takes at least two to three years to complete. Then we discuss it for another two, strip out anything that could cost votes, pause for elections, and start over. A study done in 2025 might not be implemented until 2035. Meanwhile, a private developer can build a high-rise in 16 months. This isn’t theoretical, Limassol’s Sustainable Urban Mobility Plan (SUMP) was completed in 2019, costing nearly €1 million, based on 2015-2018 data. Today, Limassol is a completely different city, and the plan gathers dust in a drawer.
Now, once again, talk of a tram or train in Cyprus has resurfaced. Two years ago, anyone who mentioned it would’ve been laughed at. By the time we discuss it, believe in it, study it, and find the money, Limassol’s population will likely have doubled again. We’re slow; not just in traffic, but in our decisions too.