Lack of planning in bypass works

Due to works in progress on the St Paul's Bay/Xemxija bypass, traffic is only permitted westbound. This measure, as one might expect, causes enormous strain on traffic at alternative routes in the area. Nevertheless this project had to be done and some burden unavoidably has to be taken by the public.

However, ADT and/or whoever else is responsible could have done a better job at tackling this inevitable situation. They should have made use of better strategies. After all they had ample time to come up with a decent traffic management plan as this project had long been planned and works eventually started a year later than intended.

First of all this is not a momentary situation because as the billboards indicate we have to endure this agony till May 2007, that is if everything goes as planned. I would expect that some of the money funded by the EU to reconstruct this road goes towards the actual administering of traffic while work is in progress so as to cause minimum inconvenience to people who are being directly affected. It is definitely not enough to apologise on a billboard and then do nothing about it.

ADT is being inconsiderate in denying access to Ta' Fjuri residents from Xemxija side. A lack of planning is causing many inconveniences to the residents of Ta' Fjuri (200m uphill from Xemxija/Ghajn Tuffieha roundabout accessible only from the bypass in question). Residents returning home by car from the Xemxija side cannot use the bypass to access an area situated within a stone's throw away; instead they have to go all the way through St Paul's Bay centre up to Erba' Mwiezeb roundabout and back again through the bypass, a distance of approximately five miles. This journey might even take 20 to 30 minutes if you are trying to pass through during rush hours or in the afternoon on weekends when hundreds of Sunday drivers ignore signs to use the alternative route via Mgarr.

There is a reasonable solution to this problem. The side of the bypass (two lanes) from Ta' Fjuri to Xemxija/Ghajn Tuffieha roundabout presently used for single-way traffic can instead be used for two-way traffic. A makeshift roundabout can be installed just by the entrance to Ta' Fjuri road to direct traffic from the east and traffic coming uphill from Xemxija and barriers should be installed to separate incoming and outgoing lanes. Would this measure cost so much as to make the whole project fall through or are authorities ignoring this measure as a taste of things to come?

Also, how is ADT tackling the substantial increase of traffic through St Paul's Bay? For one thing they could have stationed wardens to ensure that traffic flows freely without the nuisance of double-parking in renowned areas. Also works using cranes that block half the road should not be permitted during peak hours.