Athens Grand Walk (Megalos Peripatos) — A 6.8 km Pedestrian Network With Positive Traffic Data and Sharp Resident Criticism

The Grand Walk is a 6.8 km pedestrian-priority network in central Athens, piloted from 13 June to 25 October 2020 under the city's Sustainable Urban Mobility Plan and slated for completion by 2022.
A National Technical University of Athens team (Yannis et al., 10th International Congress on Transportation Research, 2021) compared traffic data before and during the pilot. It reports less private car use (shifting partly to taxis and powered two-wheelers), better surface public-transport performance, more walking and cycling, lower speeds with road-safety benefits, and lower noise and air pollution, and says its simulation forecasts were largely confirmed. The abstract gives no numerical results.
A 2021 survey of 1,108 people living or working in central Athens by Panteion University and Aristotle University of Thessaloniki found 87.8% 'not at all' or 'only slightly' satisfied, 89.4% saying it was poorly designed, 89.3% saying their needs were not met, an overall score of 2.72/10, and 55% saying it did not reduce traffic. 25.4% were pleased with the added public space. The survey was conducted during COVID-19, which may colour responses.
A later academic acceptance study reported only marginal gains in walking and cycling, and the lowest acceptability for the Panepistimiou Street redesign. No formal post-2023 evaluation of the permanent scheme was found.
Lesson: strong technical monitoring does not substitute for early resident consultation; the evidence base is mixed and partly pandemic-confounded.

Read the full analysis: https://news.gtp.gr/2021/09/27/poll-athens-grand-walk-project-disappoints-residents/