Car Torque - The Malta Transport Authority
I augur that with a new minister responsible for the ADT, and not any old minister, but one that I personally hold in great esteem, partly because of his incredible 'no nonsense' approach, Minister Austin Gatt will rapidly become au fait, through his...
I augur that with a new minister responsible for the ADT, and not any old minister, but one that I personally hold in great esteem, partly because of his incredible 'no nonsense' approach, Minister Austin Gatt will rapidly become au fait, through his chairman and board with all the nuances and responsibilities of his incredibly important transport authority.
In last month's 'Motoring', we published a little photo of a tyre and wheel breaking 'hole', one that was in all probability the cause of damage to many vehicles. It has been repaired. It took a very long time to complete the job, and let's hope that the repair will last.
However, the hole in question is set in the very busy road from Naxxar to the Coast Road. This road has a roundabout, which like the rest of the road is unlit. The edges and centre were well fitted with 'cat's eyes'; if a suggestion eight years ago from the chairman of the then active Traffic Control Board had been followed up to get field officers to drive government roads at night I'm sure that the centre line would be properly marked with 'cat's eyes', and all the missing reflective markers would be replaced in short order.
Already this early in the year this road is carrying far too much weekend traffic for vehicles to get onto the very busy Coast Road in an acceptable time. Years ago the Traffic Control Board had suggested that the only way to ensure a smooth traffic flow would be with the installation of temporary traffic lights - not a roundabout as traffic would still have to give way to traffic on the right, on the Coast Road. Experts decreed that a roundabout would be the better option, and four or more years on, nothing at all has happened.
Personally, I have been kept waiting for an inordinate and totally unacceptable length of time trying to get from Għargħur onto the new roundabout on the Birguma bypass. My official report with the ADT stating that traffic lights would be the more acceptable answer to traffic build-up at this point during rush hours was, of course, disregarded, and life has been made considerably more frustrating for motorists having to make use of this junction at busy traffic hours. The Birguma bypass, especially with four roundabouts on board is very, very badly lit at night. Many people wonder that the Traffic Management Unit within the ADT doesn't action anything of note where people may be injured or even killed because of poor street lighting.
Likewise I have been amazed to see the police directing traffic during the morning rush hour at the old Kappara roundabout, where the annoying, but relatively successful traffic lights were taken away after proving their worth over quite a few years. To make matters worse, there is now a roundabout without the convenience of a usable, straight through 'escape' road, which the police directed traffic along before the traffic lights were installed by the English Traffic Research laboratory.
Some months ago I brought up the issue of the ARMCO protective barrier on the Mosta/Burmurrad road not deflecting traffic if it were struck near its end piece. Since then, at least three more vehicles have thumped into it, and as my photo shows, it was rather nicely uprooted. It has now been repaired, but unless an expert calculates the trajectory of skidding vehicles and extends the ARMCO to actually stop crashing vehicles from being impaled on the end of the barrier, cars will continue to be very badly damaged rather than guided relatively safely down the road.
Earlier this month it was reported that the minister concerned had ordered a review of road safety near schools.
Twelve years ago, the Traffic Control Board had a good, workable policy that included 'Lollipop ladies', used in Żebbuġ for some time, and requested in Mġarr recently, or barriers along pavements with limited pedestrian facilities.
Triq Warda in Attard should have been so treated, but much more recently the easy option of closing this very, very busy road was chosen, hence forcing hundreds of rush hour vehicles to take to the residential and utterly inappropriate Triq il-Linja.
There must surely be compromises at times, but when schools open onto busy roads, every effort to make it safe for both children to use pavements and vehicles to proceed along the road, without taking the easy, but draconian option of closing off the road, should be investigated. Cost must never be the governing factor in opting for the expedient of closing the road to traffic for considerable periods every school day.
Incidentally, until it is accepted that every driving instructor must teach to the same recognised and approved standard, driving examiners, who do all work to a regular check list, will continue to be frustrated by some driving schools who find it very hard to get their students through the modern driving test. It's not rocket science. Just simple common sense.
In last month's 'Motoring', we published a little photo of a tyre and wheel breaking 'hole', one that was in all probability the cause of damage to many vehicles. It has been repaired. It took a very long time to complete the job, and let's hope that the repair will last.
However, the hole in question is set in the very busy road from Naxxar to the Coast Road. This road has a roundabout, which like the rest of the road is unlit. The edges and centre were well fitted with 'cat's eyes'; if a suggestion eight years ago from the chairman of the then active Traffic Control Board had been followed up to get field officers to drive government roads at night I'm sure that the centre line would be properly marked with 'cat's eyes', and all the missing reflective markers would be replaced in short order.
Already this early in the year this road is carrying far too much weekend traffic for vehicles to get onto the very busy Coast Road in an acceptable time. Years ago the Traffic Control Board had suggested that the only way to ensure a smooth traffic flow would be with the installation of temporary traffic lights - not a roundabout as traffic would still have to give way to traffic on the right, on the Coast Road. Experts decreed that a roundabout would be the better option, and four or more years on, nothing at all has happened.
Personally, I have been kept waiting for an inordinate and totally unacceptable length of time trying to get from Għargħur onto the new roundabout on the Birguma bypass. My official report with the ADT stating that traffic lights would be the more acceptable answer to traffic build-up at this point during rush hours was, of course, disregarded, and life has been made considerably more frustrating for motorists having to make use of this junction at busy traffic hours. The Birguma bypass, especially with four roundabouts on board is very, very badly lit at night. Many people wonder that the Traffic Management Unit within the ADT doesn't action anything of note where people may be injured or even killed because of poor street lighting.
Likewise I have been amazed to see the police directing traffic during the morning rush hour at the old Kappara roundabout, where the annoying, but relatively successful traffic lights were taken away after proving their worth over quite a few years. To make matters worse, there is now a roundabout without the convenience of a usable, straight through 'escape' road, which the police directed traffic along before the traffic lights were installed by the English Traffic Research laboratory.
Some months ago I brought up the issue of the ARMCO protective barrier on the Mosta/Burmurrad road not deflecting traffic if it were struck near its end piece. Since then, at least three more vehicles have thumped into it, and as my photo shows, it was rather nicely uprooted. It has now been repaired, but unless an expert calculates the trajectory of skidding vehicles and extends the ARMCO to actually stop crashing vehicles from being impaled on the end of the barrier, cars will continue to be very badly damaged rather than guided relatively safely down the road.
Earlier this month it was reported that the minister concerned had ordered a review of road safety near schools.
Twelve years ago, the Traffic Control Board had a good, workable policy that included 'Lollipop ladies', used in Żebbuġ for some time, and requested in Mġarr recently, or barriers along pavements with limited pedestrian facilities.
Triq Warda in Attard should have been so treated, but much more recently the easy option of closing this very, very busy road was chosen, hence forcing hundreds of rush hour vehicles to take to the residential and utterly inappropriate Triq il-Linja.
There must surely be compromises at times, but when schools open onto busy roads, every effort to make it safe for both children to use pavements and vehicles to proceed along the road, without taking the easy, but draconian option of closing off the road, should be investigated. Cost must never be the governing factor in opting for the expedient of closing the road to traffic for considerable periods every school day.
Incidentally, until it is accepted that every driving instructor must teach to the same recognised and approved standard, driving examiners, who do all work to a regular check list, will continue to be frustrated by some driving schools who find it very hard to get their students through the modern driving test. It's not rocket science. Just simple common sense.