Central Greece Motorway E65 Adding More Kilometers

Central Greece Motorway (E-65). Source: Gek Terna

A new section of the E65 motorway, often referred to as the “backbone road” of Central Greece, was opened to traffic in the second week of July, with 136 kilometers now operational. This road provides a faster and safer connection between Athens and Thessaloniki.

The motorway, which will eventually connect to the Egnatia National Highway in the north, will have a total length of 182.1 kilometers and is budgeted at 1.397 billion euros. The project is being constructed by Greece’s Gek Terna Group, with funding from the EU’s Resilience Fund and ESPA/NSRF (Enterprise Agreement for the Development Framework).

Source: Gek Terna

According to local press reports, 50.1 percent of the northern part of the motorway is now complete, including all necessary auxiliary infrastructure such as anti-flooding measures and exits. The same sources report that Gek Terna is currently working on the final 46 kilometers of the northern part of E65, which will connect to the Egnatia west of the town of Grevena.

Having completed the southern part of the E65 motorway and 25 kilometers of the northern part in late April 2024, contractors are reportedly working “full speed ahead” on the remaining northern section of the road, which initially connects Athens with Kalambaka.

The works are expected to be completed in 2025.

E65 begins at the Kalambaka exit of the Athens-Thessaloniki Highway, 206.5 kilometers from Athens, situated between the two largest cities in Greece.

The motorway already reduces travel time to Karditsa from Athens to 2 hours and 35 minutes, and to Trikala to less than three hours, providing a faster and easier route to tourist destinations such as Meteora and Plastiras Lake.

As the main motorway from Athens to the western areas of the Region of Thessaly and western Macedonia, E65 is anticipated to significantly enhance the development prospects of these areas. This includes commercial, tourism, and agricultural activities in central and north-central Greece.