Greek National Road 3

National Road 3
Εθνική Οδός 3
Major junctions
South end	Eleusis
North end	North Macedonian border at Niki
Location
Country	Greece
Regions	Attica, Central Greece, Thessaly, West Macedonia
Major cities	Eleusis, Thebes, Lamia, Larissa, Kozani, Florina
Highway system
Highways in Greece Motorways National Roads

Greek National Road 3 (Greek: Εθνική Οδός 3, abbreviated as EO3) is a single carriageway road in Greece. It connects Elefsina near Athens with the border of North Macedonia at Niki. It passes through Larissa and Florina. At Niki, it connects with the M5K motorway to Bitola. The section Kozani - Niki is also designated as the A27 motorway, part of which is operational as a 2-lane motorway.

Greek National Road 3 is one of the longest national roads in Greece and until the 1960s it served as the main route from Larissa to Thessaloniki. The A1 motorway now offers a faster connection to Thessaloniki. Most of the EO3, except the southernmost section between Eleusis and Bralos, is part of the E65.

Future developments

Throughout the late 1980s, motorway bypasses were constructed at the towns of Tyrnavos and Elassonas, but in 2002 plans surfaced to convert all of the road into a new motorway, from Larissa to Kozani and further on to Bitola, in North Macedonia. Throughout the 2000s motorway sections were delivered to the public and are running north of Larissa and north of Kozani, up to Ptolemaida. Remaining parts have either fallen through, as no construction works are currently being undertaken and no further announcements have been delivered by the government.

Route

The EO3 is officially defined as a north-south route through central Greece, running between Elefsina to the south and the Greece–North Macedonia border to the north at Niki: however, the EO3 is split into two parts, because the A27 motorway replaced a short segment of the former near Mavrodendri.

The section between Elefsina and Kozani passes through Thebes, Livadeia, Bralos, Lamia, Farsala, Larissa, Elassona and Servia: the section between Mavrodendri and Niki passes through Ptolemaida, Vevi and Agios Athanasios (near Florina). The EO3 overlaps with the EO30 from Neo Monastiri to Farsala, and with the EO2 from Vevi to Agios Athanasios. The exact alignment of the EO3 between Mavrodendri and Filotas also varies due to lignite mining in the area.

The EO3 forms part of the European route E962 from Elefsina to Thebes, and the E65 from Lamia to Kozani as well as the short segment from the northern end of the A27 motorway to the Greece–North Macedonia border. The EO3 from Lamia and Kozani will no longer be part of the E65 when the A3 motorway is connected to the A2 motorway (Egnatia Odos).

History

Ministerial Decision G25871 of 9 July 1963 created the current EO3 from all or part of the following short-lived national roads (listed from south to north), which existed by royal decree from 1955 to 1963:

• The old EO1 from Elefsina to Larissa
• The old EO30 from Larissa to Kozani
• The old EO31 from Kozani to Vevi
• The old EO36 from Vevi to Agios Athanasios, near Florina (shared with the current EO2)
• The old EO37 from Agios Athanasios to the Greece–North Macedonia border at Niki

Until 1975, the EO3 formed part of the old European route E92 from Lamia to Kozani, the old E90 from Kozani to Vevi, and the old E20 from Vevi to Agios Athanasios.