Traffic impact assessment for Sliema

As a Sliema resident I welcome the news that the Malta Environment and Planning Authority is calling for an environmental impact assessment (EIA) on the controversial Fort Cambridge development project at Tigné.

May I again point out that, given the already precarious Sliema traffic problem, the EIA should include a traffic impact assessment taking into consideration the impact of this project also on the Sliema main traffic junctions and traffic arteries. In this respect it is pertinent to point out that an ADT report clearly states that Rudolph Street to Manwel Dimech Street is already 22 per cent overloaded with continuous and heavy traffic at peak hours.

Mepa, ADT and the Sliema local council know very well that, in view of the fact that Sliema is all built up, it is already extremely difficulty to solve the already precarious traffic problem. This has been evident when recently the council rejected ADT's traffic management proposals to tackle the traffic problem.

Regrettably for many of us Sliema residents, living along the Sliema main traffic junctions and arteries, further development in Sliema will definitely degrade the already precarious traffic situation with all its consequential parking, air and noise pollution problems.

I believe that in view of its responsibility for commissioning a traffic impact assessment, Mepa ought to commission a holistic one and consequently review its development policies for Sliema.