Explanation requested

Last week we woke up to find new signs installed on Ta' L-Ibraġġ Street (which leads to Mekkek Bar on Tal-Balal Street) and on Ħal-Għargħur Street which leads from Liquid Nightclub to the Birkirkara bypass.

The no-entry signs between Ta' L-Ibraġġ Street and Tal-Balal Street at peak times of the day make sense, but can someone explain the reasoning behind installing a one-way system which no longer allows traffic from all the St Andrews area (i.e. Ibraġġ, Swieqi, Madliena and Pembroke) to flow into Birkirkara from Ħal-Għargħur Street?

A right turn at Mekkek Bar towards Naxxar leads to an area which is always congested and which allows traffic to reach Birkirkara only through Iklin (another congested roundabout) and the traffic which always accumulates in that area. A left turn to reach Birkirkara means that traffic has to pass through the San Ġwann Housing/Industrial Estate through the Mater Dei roundabout which has developed severe traffic problems of its own.

I have been living in the St Andrews area for the past 15 years and have been using the Ħal Għargħur road on a frequent basis. Traffic always flows through this route and there are only minor queues (never exceeding four cars) which form to exit onto the bypass. Why close a perfectly working route? Are we destined to be forever twiddling our thumbs on the steering wheel in long traffic backlogs?

Is this newly introduced system a permanent measure? If it is, can someone explain why?