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A5 motorway | |
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Αυτοκινητόδρομος 5 | |
Ionia Odos / Ιονία Οδός | |
Route information | |
Part of E55 E951 | |
Ionia Odos | |
Length | 196 km (122 mi) |
North end | Ioannina |
South end | Patras |
Location | |
Country | Greece |
Regions | Epirus, West Greece, Peloponnese |
Major cities | Ioannina, Arta, Agrinio, Patras |
Highway system | |
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The A5 motorway, also known as the Ionia Odos (Greek: Ιόνια Οδός),[1][2] is a controlled-access highway in western Greece, which starts at Ioannina and it follows the western coastline of mainland Greece down to the Gulf of Corinth. At Rio, it crosses the gulf via the Rio–Antirrio bridge and is connected with the A8 at an interchange near Patras. The future, currently under construction, Patras - Pyrgos motorway is typically part of the A5 motorway and will eventually extend to Tsakona near Kalamata.
In August 2017, the last section under construction (Perdika-Ioannina) was completed and delivered to traffic by the Greek Minister of Infrastructure, Transport and Network, making Ionia Odos a fully operational motorway.[3] It is the second major north–south road connection after the A1 motorway and is also part of the trans-balkanic Adriatic–Ionian motorway and the European routes E55 and E951.
The Ionia Odos motorway was one of the most challenging construction projects in Greece, as it spans a big part of Western Greece and because of its location on the foothills of the Pindus mountain range. After its completion in August 2017, it reduced travel times between Antirrio and Ioannina to 1 hour and 40 minutes, down from 3 hours and 30 minutes and will provide a boost to the economy of the regions it spans (Western Greece and Epirus).