Harbour traffic

[mr wotsin]

Just back from 2 weeks on Symi, because we ain't so mobile these days we spent a lot of time in various coffee bars around the harbour. The huge amount of traffic is suffocating.
When we left Wednesday afternoon there was a cruise boat followed by a Blue star ferry followed by another cruise boat followed by the Dodecanese Pride ferry all by the clock tower. Huge amounts of people waiting then waggons and taxis, the train comes along and then the horse and trap. Organised chaos.
I agree that the trade is good for the island
Bring back the man with the chain
A bridge!!!

[Adriana]

The man with the chain was illegal as there is only the one road round the harbour and it is the only route to Nimborio.

Once the new commercial quay is finished on the other side, by the fuel station, the Blue Star and the cruise ships will dock there and that will alleviate a lot of the congestion in the clock tower area.

[Sue L]

Do you know when is the new commercial quay going to be ready for use?

[Colette]

Coffee bars Willie? Good job they sell alcohol

[mr wotsin]

Could not think of the right word, Colette.
If the chain was illegal, how come the mayor replaced it with a crash barrier?

[Andy W]

Do you mean the striped boom and counterweight device just past the bus stop? Looked a bit like part of a French railway level crossing but without the trains. Of course now there is a train, of a sort, it's disused.

[maziemoo]

I must admit after 3 years away from visiting lovely Symi the apparent increase in activity of all kinds around the harbour to me at least was very noticeable.

[Andy W]

Part of the increased traffic is the failure of the municipality's Plan A. That was to have most ferries arriving by the bus stop, outside the "controlled zone". As long as most ferry sailings were operated by Proteus and/or Symi II that worked reasonably well, but once ANES had its financial crisis, these stopped appearing at Symi and all ferries reverted to using the traditional berths by the Clock Tower. Plan B is the new quay near the petrol station, which will reduce but not remove the need for vehicles to drive round the harbour at ferry times, as it is mainly for use by Blue Star and the cruise ships which are much more frequent visitors than they used to be. It's mostly about making sure that reliable year-round "big boat" services can be maintained and the cruise business grown.

[Sue L]

Looking at the webcam I can see there is a cruise ship in Symi today it looks like its near the clock tower where do the Dodekanisos Pride and Express dock when the cruise ships are in?

[Andy W]

The cruise ship has to move if there isn't enough room for the catamarans to call, the ferries have priority. Usually the cruise ship steams round in circles for 10 minutes or so while the ferry makes its call and then returns to where it was before. Even more fun when the Blue Star ferry calls, due to its size.