The Greek government marked on Thursday the start of the construction of the long-delayed highway that will link the city of Patra in western Greece with the city of Pyrgos, in the northwestern Peloponnese.

Infrastructure and Transport Μinister Kostas Karamanlis said on Thursday, at the start of work for the road’s construction in Amaliada.

The region has “paid a heavy toll in blood,” Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said at the event, referring to the numerous car accidents recorded due to poor road safety conditions.

“The new highway means road safety, new jobs, quality of life and a better daily life for the residents and visitors of the area,” said Infrastructure and Transport Μinister Kostas Karamanlis, while announcing an upgrade of the road that connects Pyrgos with Ancient Olympia.

The minister blamed the previous leftist government for cancelling the original tender and dividing the project to eight separate ones that never kicked off.

Karamanlis said Mitsotakis worked to unblock and accelerate the project by expanding EU funding beyond 2023, but also to the significant savings of public resources by the assignment to Olympia Odos.

This article was previously published at ekathimerini.com.