Swieqi one-way street

Anna Busuttil (March 29) has either ignored most of my letter (March 18) for personal expediency or it has gone right over her head. Both are regrettable.

My letter, objecting to Triq is-Sidra in Swiqi being turned into a one-way street, was concerned with the safety of Swieqi as a whole and not my own front door. Still, given the opportunity, I can confirm that I have also had to replace car mirrors; and a car door too on one occasion. Triq is-Sidra residents certainly do not have a monopoly on inconvenience.

I also find her letter exaggerates in places. For instance I pass through her street on average 10 times a day at sporadic times and the most I have been stuck for is seconds, unless some fool leaves their car in the 30-metre "No Stopping Zone" refuge. On those infrequent occasions the wait can stretch to a full minute, sometimes even two.

Without risking exaggeration myself, I advise her to get the council to install a traffic mirror opposite her garage because, if Triq is-Sidra does become a one-way street, leaving her garage is going to become an insurer's nightmare.

In the meantime some genius has dismantled the said 30-metre stretch and installed a presumably illegal rubber speed bump at the location. Was all this authorised, I wonder? The combined effect of losing the refuge and slowing to a dead stop for the non-spec speed bump is definitely snarling traffic now. Is someone shifting the goal posts to press an unnecessary point?

These rubber speed bumps that have sprouted like mushrooms in our town are too sharp and make no sense in 35-kilometre-per-hour locations. They can also cause neck injuries, sudden braking, damage vehicles, delay emergency services and are unprofessionally and dangerously located. They are in breach of the specifications stipulated by the Malta Environment and Planning Authority (Traffic Calming Guidelines A2) and the ADT's Guidelines for the Implementation of Traffic Management and Safety Measures (Legal Notice 364 of 2003) Section 9.1.2.