After years of complaints, prayers, and the kind of eye-rolls only Heraklion locals can deliver, someone finally decided to spruce up Kalokairinou Avenue (Leof. Kalokerinou on Google Maps). This busy road—where shops keep changing, and potholes act as local mascots—is set for what officials call a “complete aesthetic and functional improvement.” Or in plain language: maybe it will stop looking like a construction zone that never finished.
Ready for the price tag? The project, weighing in at a cool €1,768,419.06, is now part of the much-hyped “Crete 2021-2027” program, overseen by Regional Governor Stavros Arnaoutakis. It’s all included in Heraklion’s plan for so-called “Sustainable Urban Development.” Translation: sidewalks you can walk on, and trees that haven’t decided to die out of boredom.
The Fine Print: What Exactly Will Change?
Before anyone gets too excited, yes, there’s a 15-month window for completion—provided nobody throws a legal tantrum and stalls the whole thing. Residents and workers along Kalokairinou Avenue have been asking for this for what feels like centuries. As Mayor Alexis Kalokairinos said in his direct manner, “It’s a significant development, opening the way for the upgrade of a key commercial street and finally meeting a longstanding request from those who use and work along the avenue every day.”
What will you see once the dust settles? Here’s the “wishlist” of changes:
- New pavement (the kind your shoes deserve)
- Sidewalks wide enough for more than a single-file parade
- Tree planting (shade, imagine that!)
- Modern LED lighting (no more flickering nightmares)
- Electrical grid sent safely underground (watch out, moles)
- Better water, sewage, and drainage networks
- Tactile paving routes for visually impaired residents
- Shiny new public benches, probably not stolen from another street
All these will supposedly match the design of nearby renovated roads, promising a “unified look.” Or, if you’re a pessimist, everything will look the same.
Who’s Getting Credit—and Who’s Doing the Work
Every project in Crete needs a chorus of “thank-yous” big enough for an Oscar speech. Mayor Kalokairinos publicly tipped his hat to Stavros Arnaoutakis (“thanks for the speedy response!”), Maria Kasotaki from the Management Authority, Vice-Mayor Giorgos Sisamakis from Technical Infrastructure & Mobility, the blue-shirt warriors of City Technical Services, and Maria Skrafnaki, Heraklion’s General Secretary, for “coordinated, effective action.” It sounds like a meeting that could have been an email, but without it, approvals for the old town’s Traffic Study wouldn’t exist, and nothing would ever break ground.
The city hopes to move quickly with bidding and selection, but they know how local politics work. Appeals and objections could drag things out. If no one objects, expect work to begin fast. If not, take a seat and enjoy the show.
