Mgarr ferry terminal

I refer to the letter by Emmanuel J. Galea (September 3), who points out his concerns about the traffic problems arising at Mgarr harbour and on the road leading to Mgarr on Sunday afternoons/evenings.

Regrettably, the traffic congestion during peak periods is inevitable and mostly beyond Gozo Channel's control. The three new ferries operated by the company have a total maximum capacity of 300 vehicles.

Due to logistics, including boarding/unboarding in both harbours and crossing time, the company can only operate a maximum of three trips from either harbour in any one hour, which means that if more than 300 vehicles accumulate at any one time, waiting time will inevitably exceed one hour. On Sundays and public holidays, traffic of vehicles returning to Malta varies from 1,500 to 3,000 cars, implying inevitably long waiting times and heavy traffic queues requiring between five to 10 hours to clear.

To make matters worse, more than half of the marshalling area at Mgarr harbour is at present inoperable as it is taken up by civil works in connection with the new ferry terminal. This is resulting in considerable inconvenience as, once the available terminal area is full, the line-up of arriving vehicles has to extend into the only road leading to the Mgarr terminal.

In reply to Mr Galea's observations, it must be clarified that Gozo Channel is responsible solely for its marshalling area, whereas traffic management in the area and road outside the terminal falls under the responsibility of the police. We are indeed grateful for the force's cooperation in funnelling traffic to the terminal but it is obvious that in peak times even they cannot work miracles.

Precisely to improve traffic management at the terminal, Gozo Channel is encouraging the use of prepaid tickets and to this end has installed a ticket booth in Cirkewwa for the convenience of customers. As rightly pointed out, vehicles already in possession of their ticket can make use of the prepaid lane, resulting in quicker entry into the marshalling area. This facility is available for Maltese and Gozitan passengers alike.

Mr Galea further comments on the three-day validity period of Gozo resident tickets and on the number of tickets he can buy at any one time. In this regard, since the tickets are of a privileged nature in that they are heavily subsidised, the company feels that a longer validity period and multiple sales would increase the possibility of abuse.

On a positive note, readers will appreciate the temporary nature of the state of affairs at Mgarr harbour and that when completed the terminal project will include:

¤ a terminal building enabling foot passengers to board the ferry directly onto the passenger deck and not through the car deck as at present;

¤ an underground parking area for foot passengers wishing to leave their cars at Mgarr harbour;

¤ a larger marshalling area for vehicles waiting to board the ferry and

¤ traffic management for vehicles disembarking from the ferries, as well as for coaches, public transport, taxis and private cars for foot passengers.

In the meantime, our esteemed patrons are strongly urged to carefully plan their timing for boarding the ferry, and, for their convenience and if at all possible, to avoid times when queues are notoriously heavy. At other times, for the benefit of all concerned, may I take this opportunity to encourage our customers to avoid leaving it to the last minute to reach the terminal.

Finally, I assure readers that Gozo Channel will continue to do all that is possible to reduce inconvenience for its customers.