According to 2002 statistics, the road network in areas administered by the Republic of Cyprus consists of about 7,206 km of paved and 4,387 km of unpaved roads. Although the first motorway in Cyprus (the A1) was completed as recently as October 1985, by 2009 the country already had the most motorway km per capita (36.8 km /100,000 inhabitants) among all European Union members. There are no toll paying roads in Cyprus to date.
Maintenance
The Department of Public Works of the Ministry of Transportation, Communications and Works is generally responsible for the maintenance, improvement and construction of the road network; while the municipalities are responsible for those secondary and intercity roads in their jurisdiction in more granular ways; with the District Administration Authorities taking the responsibilities of what would be municipal governments in areas which are not in municipalities (rural areas). The Forestry Department is separately responsible for most unpaved roads in forest areas, in order to accommodate the administration and protection of forests.
History
In the 1970s, the Cypriot Government introduced a series of schemes to improve the infrastructure of transport in the country. The first planned motorway was to be built between Nicosia and Nicosia International Airport, roughly on the route of the current Griva Digeni Avenue and B10. The road was widened in preparation, but following the Turkish Invasion of Cyprus in July 1974 and the closure of the airport as a result, this scheme was abandoned. Also due to the Turkish Invasion, Limassol emerged as the main port of Cyprus, so the decision was made to build a motorway between Nicosia and Limassol instead.
In July 2025, the European Investment Bank (EIB) was reported to provide funds of €100 million to allow for improvements to the general road network
Speed limits
For passenger cars and vans below , the speed limits in Cyprus are generally as follows:
Type of road Limit in km/h (mph) Pedestrian zones 30 (19) Urban 50 (31) Rural 80 (50) Motorway 100 (62)
Motorways of Cyprus
Name Connecting Cities Status Year completed Special Features Nicosia - LimassolCompleted1985 1st Motorway in Cyprus, 5,200 m Emergency runway Nicosia - LarnacaCompleted 19911st Modern Motorway in Cyprus, 1st Motorway Interchange in Cyprus Larnaca Airport - Ayia NapaCompleted 2002 First Beltway in Cyprus Larnaca - LimassolCompleted 1996 5,000 m emergency runway Limassol - PaphosCompleted 2006 950 m tunnel, 110m tall bridge, one of the 300 largest in the world. Paphos - Polis Under construction Expected by 2031 3 tunnels Limassol - Saittas Completed from Polemidia - Palodia Expected at an unknown date 1st split-level dual carriageway in Cyprus Nicosia - EvrychouCompleted from Nicosia - Deneia and from Astromeritis - Evrychou Expected after 2030 Links Nicosia to Troodos Mountains Nicosia-PalaichoriUnder Construction Anthoupolis - Ergates , Ergates - Palaichori under design Expected at an unknown date 4 lane section of E903 near Anthopoulis Roundabout will become part of the motorway Nicosia Ring Road Completed from A1 to B901 road Expected at an unknown date 3.2 km of cut and cover tunneling in Lakatamia
B Roads of Cyprus
Logo Route Urban Name Limassol - Nicosia Giannou Kardioti Pera Chorio - LarnacaGeorgiou Griva Digeni Larnaca - Agia NapaAmmoxostouDromolaxia - LarnacaArtemidos AvenueKofinou - LarnacaLemesouLimassol - PaphosArchebiskopu Makarios IIIPaphos - Polis ChrysophousHellados AvenueLimassol - TroodosDespinas and Nikou PatichiNicosia - TroodosArchangel MichaelGrigoris Afxentiou to Kokkinotrimithian/aNicosia to KaimakliAgiou Andreou AvenuePalouriotissa - SopazJohn KennedyNicosia - AglantziaLarnakasNicosia - Agios DometitosGrigoris AfxentiouKenedy Square - Kato PaphosApostolou PavlouNicosia OrbitalSpyrou Kiprianou
Road network categories and numbering
Roads and Motorways in Cyprus can be classified into 6 main categories:
Motorways: 4 lanes, free of any at-grade intersections. They are the most important road network on the island, and the letter "A" is used for their official numbering. They usually either run parallel to the B class roads of the same name (Like the A1) or are upgraded B roads (Like part of the A3). While there is no formal announcement about the numbering of new motorways under construction and under planning, it's anticipated that they will have the same number as the B road they will replace. So the Paphos - Polis Motorway will be coded A7 because A is the letter of Motorways and 7 because it will "replace" the B7 in terms of functionality.
Intercity Routes: usually 2 lanes, except sometimes to help with congestion, can have roundabouts and traffic lights. They are labelled as B routes, and all have 1 number. Most of them have been replaced for intercity transport with their same-number Motorway counterparts, but are often still important for urban transport
Main Avenues: important roads that are mostly within city limits that are labeled B routes due to either being seen as important or having had 4 lanes during classification
Secondary "E" Roads: when classified they had 2 lanes and were always paved. Their numbers contain 3 digits. The first digit is the serial number of the motorway or intercity road (main road) it branches off of either directly or as a sub-branch and the last two digits are a serial number of the road itself, with it getting larger the further away it is from the start of the main road
Secondary "F" Roads: when coded during the 80's 1 laned and often unpaved, today almost completely paved and often having lanes in both directions. They use "F" in the official coding system, and they are counted in the same way as "E"s are. There is no "E" with the same number as an "F".
Unclassified roads. Roads were constructed after the road network was numbered, so they will remain without a serial number until the next road numbering evaluation.
Road safety Cyprus currently holds a worse than average road safety record in the European Union Official Figures 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 200920102011201220132014201520162017201820192020202120222023 Accidents 3,172 3,052 3,021 2,080 2,1311,8561,8831,6901,4921,2731,154958942876741727506422555 - Injuries 4,232 4,490 3,916 3,712 3,586 3,531 3,176 3,523 3,411 1,9631,7231,7621,5531,3811,1291,070947964838741673429491505 - Fatalities 103 132 115 133 118 128 115 111 113 111 98 94 97 117 98 84 89 82 7160715144455746534952484438 - Fatalities/Million 150 189 161 184 162 174 155 149 150 147 129 124 128 154
Pre-2008 data: European Commission Road Safety Country Profile report for Cyprus. Post-2008 data: Cyprus' National Open Data Portal
Data entered from 2008 onwards does not include deaths or fatalities.
References
Part of this article was copied from Cyprus's Press and Information office multimedia software "Aspects of Cyprus".