Reconstruction of major roads starts in 2010

Milena Aguis

Sep 19th 2009, 16:38

Will we ever stop needing to RECONSTRUCT our roads?Think not!
Idea-why dont we stop these petty VRT tests until all our roads are restructured?

TRW O'Neill

Sep 19th 2009, 12:24

Karl Abela,(probably employed in road construction?) Drivers are entitled to moan , when contractors employing idiots, , take more than a year to construct ONE Kilometre of road, BADLY, working less than 4 hours each day, causing delays by not providing alternative routes , having no idea of how to make the work blend in with normal traffic, any where else in Europe, the work would be done 24/7, using 3 shifts to speed up the work, but then this is Malta, where road work is fortunate if the workers put in over 4 hours a day, one would think that Malta was One hundred times larger to explain the lack of progress in road building . i.e. in the U.S.A. an airport with runways bigger than Malta & Gozo together was resurfaced in ONE NIGHT ! Where there is a will there is a way ! QED.

J. Micallef

Sep 19th 2009, 12:19

I am happy about this news, but I have a strong feeling it will take 5 years or more to complete, and when completed they will be taken apart again to install pipes underneath haha. That's what always happens .....

I visited Germany for 3 days last year. On my way there, driving the 4 lane AutoBahn, there was a 1 km straight stretch all torn out for resurfacing. Workers painted temporary yellow lines for the drivers to follow instead of the white lines.

To my suprise, they used a yellow paint that when it dried, it peeled off like a sticker, and guess what !!!! On the 3rd day on my way back to Frankfurt all the works have been completed as if nothing had ever happened ... but hey ... 25 workers did the job day and night ..... and all this work was completed in less than 3 days.

Also note that the hundreds of kilometers of AutoBahn are built on an 80 cm layer of heavy duty, professionally laid tarmac ... no wonder they last for ever .....

That's an example we should follow !!! We're both EU countries !!!!!!

Sandro Agius

Sep 19th 2009, 08:28

What about Vjal il-Helsien in Zebbug. I don't think it will be ready by end 2009 as was said. Is this just a promise or something that is still in the pipeline

Peter Korsten

Sep 18th 2009, 10:07

One would hope that Council of Europe Road would become four lane, since all access roads to it are already four lane, but somehow I have a funny feeling that it's going to be two lane. Oh well, there's always hope that it won't happen that way.

Dennis Zammit

Sep 18th 2009, 05:57

Good news when they will be ready.

I hope that the plans for the new junction in 13th December Road will be around the current junction which take the vehicles from this road up to Marsa By Pass. Back in the 1970s, this junction was not deigned to take all those cars now going towards Mriehel By Pass and Sta. Venera Tunnels. The curves and ridiculously narrowing at the top, not to mention the badly planned road markings give priority to a less important and useful passage for those coming from the right.

This junction could be redesigned to manage the huge volume of traffic with flows and which could allow a better flow without the need to tilt during peak times.

On a similar note,ADT should also solve the daily morning traffic problem at the Qormi roundabout up to Luqa. The road leading to this roundabout narrows at certain points which cause daily unnecessary delays. The narrow parts can be easily and cheaply arranged since the adjacent land is just an excessively large bare center strip. If any official from ADT uses this road, he would surely have also included this minor alteration in the plans.

Jeremy Gatt

Sep 17th 2009, 23:54

@Joseph E Briffa

i hope these new roads will not be like, as you commented :
"first-class like the Zebbug-Rabat road and guaranteed to last for 25 years"

because when i passed from there last week driving towards zebbug. Cracks are already appearing.
Maltese road construction is of such a low standard its embarrasing, i mean that road hasnt even been there 5 years has it?

M. Darmanin

Sep 17th 2009, 23:11

@Joseph Vella
I think you are refering to Triq il-Htajriet - Mosta. True true... it's been promised and repromised but has not been finished yet. Shame on the authorities.

Anthony Mizzi

Sep 17th 2009, 22:44

Maybe with the €45 million project in road re-construction and upgrading, Malta’s rating in the global competitiveness rankings of 133 world economies will rank better or at least be at par with crisis-hit Zimbabwe and the war stricken Ivory Coast......hopefully and will take less than time than the reconstruction of Manuel Dimech Bridge .


http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20090913/local/roads-in-malta-worse-than-zimbabwe-report

Nigel Lawrence

Sep 17th 2009, 22:09

FOUR roads? Are we supposed to be impressed?

Joseph Sammut

Sep 17th 2009, 20:48

Naxxar Road and Ghanu Street B'Kara and Valley Road, Balzan - one sings Mamma Mia when one uses these roads.

Ivan Visanich

Sep 17th 2009, 19:26

Glad that Garibaldi/Council of Europe road is going to be done,this is the first road most tourists drive through when they arrive in Malta and it deserves to be re done properly.Just hoping that the Council of Europe road won't be turned into a single lane road but widened to have two proper lanes on each side,and if possible proper crash barriers installed and the trees removed,thay have been death traps for years now,many people losing their lives crashing in them throughout the years,latest person to lose his life there the famous pieta landier,i use this road everyday to go back home,and please as soon as it's ready ,especially to taxi drivers as they reguralry use this road as part of their race track driving biblically fast to arrive at the airport first,PLEASE drive sensibly,we can't afford to have another speed camera installed with ridiculous speed limits.government please build a proper road this time for us motorists to enjoy ....

Edward Camilleri

Sep 17th 2009, 19:06

I hope that the trees in Council of Europe street are not uprooted! It is a sacriledge to uproot such large trees. The plan should take into consideration these trees.

J S Borg

Sep 17th 2009, 19:02

And what about the manhole covers??? Are we still going to have the usual drop, like those in the new EU roads?? I am sure that our fresh new lady architects better still road engineers, at the ADT know about them. They were not at ADT when these roads were built but I am sure that our smart ladies would like to get rid of these bumps. Make them build the manholes from rock level.

N.Attard

Sep 17th 2009, 18:33

Reconstructed roads are always welcome and the Maltese people really deserve to have decent roads. Expensive cars, expensive insurance, expensive licences but then we still have the poorest infrastructure when compared to our European neighbours.
I just hope that these new roads have the same grip as found in those abroad. Although un-potholed roads is already a bonus for all us, grip quality is essetial as well. For some reason, the mix used for tarmac is still inferior from EU roads. All our roads, even these new ones lose grip with time. This is because our 'zrara' is not good at all for roads. It becomes polished instead of breaking down slowly. One fine example is the Valletta ring road, Marsa main cross road, exiting St Venera tunnels etc etc. In the wet, braking is impossible even at normal speeds. I believe this is the main cause for all the bumper to bumper collisions we see every time it rains.

m camilleri

Sep 17th 2009, 18:29

" paul calleja & andrew bonnici, I thank them for being very positive in their criticism. any project which will be carried out by our government i am sure that there is something wrong. I live in xemxija and i feel satisfaction every time i drive through the by pass even if it took so long to finish at least we are getting excellent roads. its always an improvement.

david

Sep 17th 2009, 18:05

nisperaw li jsiru tajjeb,lanqas ghadna kapaci nilivellaw it- tappieri ma trieq!

G.Grech

Sep 17th 2009, 17:54

Good - but when I remeber the time it took for regional bridge to be rebuilt and ta Alla u ommu road (4 months, going on 2 years:) I shudder to think about the delays.

Let's see what the excuses will be, these ones have been used so far:

Ghax ix-xita zammithna
The foundations we found were not what we expected
Il-Xmas u l-festi telfu ftit
Bdil fil-pjanijiet telfuna ftit


Of course we're all happy they're doing some more roads (FINALLY!), but we also know the drill ormaj.

Joseph Vella

Sep 17th 2009, 17:32

Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha, I bet they will be finished by election time. Ha Ha Ha Ha. Triq il Htajtiet Mosta, which was promised 3 elections ago is still not ready, Ha Ha Haj.

Joseph Grech

Sep 17th 2009, 17:20

What about Valletta Road, Zurrieq?

michael fenech

Sep 17th 2009, 17:19

@ mark sultana,

At the Zabbar to M’scala bypass as you seem to know the top part is all but finished, correct me if I’m wrong but I don’t see any drain system anywhere for rain water, ARE WE GOING TO HAVE THE SAME FLOODING PROBLEMS EVEN AFTER SPENDING 9 MILLION EUROS??

philip pace

Sep 17th 2009, 17:09

Are good, safe and well laid pavements included?

Karl Abela

Sep 17th 2009, 17:08

You wanted new roads, now you will have them, but please lets not hear a bunch of hypocrits MOANING ABOUT THE INCONVENIENCE CAUSED.

Joseph E Briffa

Sep 17th 2009, 17:07

This is indeed good news for motorists. The fact that the project will in the main be financed from EU finds will ensure that the roads will be first-class like the Zebbug-Rabat road and guaranteed to last for 25 years. Furthermore the completion dates will strictly be adhered to. This is the beauty of Malta forming part of the EU. As for comments by certain bloggers, this is the beauty of democracy where everyone can have their say without exposing themselves to any risk except to ridicule.

Joseph Calleja

Sep 17th 2009, 17:03

This is welcome news and as far as the comments go, I presume everybody is going by past experience. Hopefully things have improved tremendously? When doing the reconstruction of Marfa Road, Mellieha, I hope it includes installing a railing of some kind, and handicap access on the Marfa/Cirkewwa Promenade. This is a beautiful and scenic walkway but very dangerous. You can see this on youtube, click on jocal43.

J.Tonna

Sep 17th 2009, 16:43

Some people don't even like to read good news. They try to find the flaw in everything. Probably they read scaremongering papers every day.

Michael Vella

Sep 17th 2009, 16:37

The works will finish in time for the next general elections...mark my words :)

Karen Buttigieg

Sep 17th 2009, 16:29

We have been hearing such a lot about road re surfacing. That is surfacing roads that already have a surface! But what about residential roads that have never been surfaced? Where residents have to stay locked indoors because of dust pollution leading to allergies in summer and threading through mud in Winter.Perhaps these roads are tucked in somewhere where they are not seen ,so the state they are in is not important, as long as what is obvious is in perfect condition.No wonder we rank so low where roads are concerned and we"ll rank even lower were these uninhabitable roads more conspicuous. I think if authorities roll up their sleeves and work on priorities Malta would be such a better place to live in!!!!

A.Calleja

Sep 17th 2009, 16:18

WHEN IS THE KAPPARA FLYOVER PROMISED 15 YEARS AGO GOING TO BE DONE????

mark sultana

Sep 17th 2009, 16:02

i don't feel most of the comments so far are fair. From what i see dialy with the new bypass/reconstruction from zabbar to m'scala the workers are effciient the logistics are well thought of and bottlenecks forseen and solved. deadlines are met and actually works are before schedule.

keep this up.

jfarrugia

Sep 17th 2009, 15:48

Hearing that any road is going to be done is always welcome.

However lets hope it doesnt mean that its takes 3 or 4 years to complete, narrowing the road or not embanking the sharp corners, lets get someone who actually knows how to build a road to do it please, after all its what we deserve.

Andrew Bonnici

Sep 17th 2009, 15:48

to start in 2010, to finish in 2050...haha

Paul Calleja

Sep 17th 2009, 15:27

mela ghid li ghandna sentejn kulimkien bit-traffiku