Traffic arrangements for Msida feast cause havoc

Motorists who needed to go through Msida or the nearby Regional Road in the evening over the weekend were faced with huge traffic jams and long waits as a result of the closure of a number of roads because of the feast at Msida.

St Venera Bypass was closed for a number of hours between Wednesday and Sunday so that petards could be launched.

The constant letting off of fireworks were an inconvenience to many, including and especially hospital patients. When contacted yesterday, St Luke's Hospital superintendent Frank Bartolo described the situation as "unbelievable".

"Can you imagine somebody with a migraine? Or somebody who has had a heart attack or is recovering from an operation?"

He pointed out that noise should be regulated, adding that while fireworks provided a beautiful show, "bang, bang is no art".

Ta' Xbiex seafront was closed on Saturday and Sunday evening because of the feast, making it almost impossible to drive through the area and causing very long waits for motorists.

Indeed, motorists waited for more than an hour to get to their destination. One reader, who contacted The Times yesterday, said he spent an hour to get to hospital to visit a relative after receiving a call to get there urgently. The hot weather did not help matters, and some motorists whose cars are not equipped with air conditioning switched off the engines and got out of their vehicles.

"Whoever has the responsibility to close roads or divert traffic should always try to avoid closures of arterial roads as the inconvenience caused by this is obvious," the chairman of the Malta Transport Authority, Joe Gerada, said.

Unlike what many believe, the ADT is only responsible for the closure of roads in case of road works as it is the responsibility of the police to decide closing roads for other reasons.

Mr Gerada said an alternative site from where to launch petards should be found. "But I cannot say whether an easy solution exists since, so far, this exercise has not been carried out by the ADT."

Answering questions by The Times, Mr Gerada said the closure of Sta Venera Bypass and the Msida Seafront at the same time should be avoided.

He said he would expect the traffic situation to have been severe, adding that the challenge is obviously to improve things by examining whether alternatives exist.

Attempts throughout the day to contact Assistant Police Commissioner Josie Brincat proved unsuccessful.