The Attard bypass (1)

I strongly agree with the argument put forward by Emmanuel Grech (March 13) that there is an urgent need to construct the Attard bypass.

Attard is a village that is located in the centre of the island. It has always served as a through route for travellers heading to Rabat and, to a lesser extent, to Mosta and the north of the island. The opening of the Mriehel bypass has meant that another route was provided for traffic to travel to the north and, hence, the volume of vehicles using this route for this purpose has increased significantly.

However, using this route also means going through the village of Attard. Although a project was carried out by the local council to pedestrianise the church square (for which project we, the residents of the village core of Attard, are very grateful since it has decreased substantially the flow of traffic through our narrow streets), traffic started using streets that were not intentioned for such traffic volume.

At times the traffic situation becomes chaotic especially during the morning hours when Hal Warda Street is closed to traffic to enable children to access safely the primary school and during the rush hour in late afternoon. As a consequence of the situation residential streets such as Triq il-Linja and Notary Zarb Street have been transformed into arterial roads.

This situation is most unfair to the residents of these streets because it gives rise to a series of problems ranging from parking difficulties to street safety and heavy air pollution.

The solution to this problem is an Attard bypass. Such a new road has been discussed for the past 50 years but has never reached past the discussion stage. In our manifesto for the 2003 election, the Labour Party has specifically emphasised the construction of the Attard pypass.

For the present administration this road is not considered to be a priority. Indeed, it is not included in the road proposals made by the government for EU funding.

I am sure this road will once again be included in the Labour manifesto for the forthcoming election. A new Labour government after the next election will ensure that this traffic problem, which has led to the deterioration of the quality of life of all Attard residents, will be eliminated.