Works are in full swing at the Park and Ride car park in Floriana as the first day of operations - November 6 - draws closer.
The first phase of works should be ready by next week, the Malta Transport Authority's deputy chief executive officer David Sutton told The Times.
Workers have been working for 12 hours a day to meet the fast approaching deadline. Parts of the site were being asphalted yesterday morning and just metres away workers were marking parking spaces. Work is also underway on the administration building, which will house the office of operations manager Joseph Theuma.
Under the scheme, motorists park outside Valletta and are then transported to the capital by air-conditioned minivans. The car park is expected to provide over 900 parking spaces. Both parking and the shuttle service will be provided for free.
The Malta Transport Authority (ADT) is purchasing 20 bikes, which the more athletic people will be able to use for free in order to cycle into Valletta.
Together with other traffic measures - including the controlled vehicular access scheme through which cars will be charged for entering the capital city - the Park and Ride could reduce traffic flows through Floriana into Valletta by up to 50 per cent, Mr Sutton said.
Although he believes the Park and Ride will not be used to its full capacity before the Valletta parking scheme starts operating next March, he said demand is expected to increase once people start having to pay to park in Valletta.
"It will be one of the main alternatives to parking in Valletta," he said. He described the controlled vehicular access scheme as the "lynchpin" of the strategy to bring life back to the capital city.
The vans will pick up people from five sheltered bus stops around the car park and take them to Valletta. A van will leave every four minutes during peak hours - probably between 7.30 and 9 a.m. and 4.30 and 6 p.m. - and every 10 minutes during other times. The car park will be open between 6 a.m. and 1 a.m. to cater for evening activities in Valletta.
Mr Sutton said traffic lights just outside the car park will be synchronised with the pelican lights on St Anne's Street in an effort to reduce traffic congestions.
Mr Sutton said about 3,000 tonnes of waste material was removed from the site when works started. The workers laid 4,000 linear metres of curbs and 40,000 square metres of asphalt.
The project did not come without hiccups. Mr Sutton said someone who was "illegally occupying" a hut in the ditch, which hut was going to be demolished had applied for the issue of a prohibitory injunction, which means the ADT will have to make its case in court.
It has also been at the receiving end of vandalism, with windows smashed, vehicles emptied of fuel and car batteries stolen.
A decision was taken to forgo some parking spots after an arched gateway was found in the area. Talks are underway with Fondazzjoni Wirt Artna on the best way to restore the gate.