Trucks banned on auxiliary highways, forced onto toll roads

The Transport and Infrastructure Ministry has banned all trucks from using auxiliary highways and old national highway networks in a move it says is intended to increase safety and improve policing but which critics claim is aimed at raising revenues by forcing trucks to use toll roads.

The ban includes all trucks and vans with a mixed weight of 3.5 tons, and forbids them from using extensive parts of the road network, particularly in and around the Greek capital and other major cities, when they are not carrying cargo or cannot prove they are traveling to or from a delivery.

The decision is expected to bring a marked improvement to the quality of life in areas with busy thoroughfares used by truckers and motorists who use or live near the auxiliary and old national highway networks also stand to benefit from the decrease in cumbersome truck traffic.

Professionals...