Road building

I have recently had reason to drive to Valletta, from Marsa, past the new waterfront development. When I arrived at the newly diverted road, there was no prior indication of this and, more importantly, no indication of how dangerously sharp this bend is. Had I not reacted in time, I would have ended up driving the wrong way on the opposite carriageway, with the consequence of a possible head-on collision. Fortunately no one was approaching from the opposite direction.

Much to my amazement, this new road is littered with manhole covers. Has anybody ever noticed how these, without fail, always collapse, rendering the road dangerous and unpleasant to drive on and causing damage to vehicles? Can a driver be blamed for swerving all over the road while trying to avoid costly damage to his vehicle? Of course, this kind of driving would normally be classified as "reckless".

And what about the future maintenance costs when the roads need resurfacing? Would it not be better to take a longer-term view and plan for eventual maintenance, which, without these manhole covers in the way, would allow for a much quicker and cheaper operation? Do the road engineers in Malta ever look around them to see how certain works/designs perform over time? Why do I get the feeling that we never learn from mistakes?

For a number of years I lived in North London. My journey to work took me through Edmonton on the A406 (North Circular Road) which had extensive road works carried out in the early 1990s. I suggest that the people responsible visit London and drive along this road, while observing how it has been constructed. Perhaps we might even adopt their method of draining water off the road surface. It is certainly much better than the constantly collapsing, and still used, system of concrete slabs bridging a wide opening in the pavement.

Now that extensive road works are in the pipeline, is it too much to ask to have the money invested wisely by using better designs and materials?