Traffic calming needed in Mġarr Road

Mġarr Road is Gozo’s main arterial road since it links Mġarr Harbour to Victoria centre. It was recently reconstructed and, as usual, when drivers see a smooth road they go way above the speed limit, if there is one to begin with.

In the past 18 months, from January 2, 2009, to June 11, 2010, there have been no fewer than 36 accidents in Mġarr Road, two of which were fatal.

These accidents were reported by traffic wardens and do not include others where the police were called in as they involved injured people.

All this shows how deadly this road is and underlines the need for action to make the road safer for residents and users. Drivers should be made to slow down when going through Għajnsielem, even if they are in a hurry to catch the ferry.

Only the installation of pelican lights at the corner with Għajnsielem Street and Cordina Street (opposite the car showrooms) and speed cameras further up the road would oblige drivers to slow down on their way to and from Mġarr Harbour.

The slowing down of traffic would make it easier for residents to cross the street. As things stand, without pelican lights, pedestrians either have to wait till the traffic eases (this often takes a while) or make a dash to the other side of the road, risking being hit by the oncoming traffic.

At a recent local council meeting it was argued that pelican lights would create more fumes by stopping and slowing traffic. This may be true but as a resident I say we can cope with little more fumes as long as the road is safe for those who live along it and as long as fatal accidents are avoided.

In any case, I do not think this matter was taken into consideration when two pelican lights were recently installed at Marsalforn Road quite close to each other.

Despite the local council’s pleas, nothing has been done so far. The only response it got was from the assistant manager of Transport Malta’s Gozo district, who wrote that the request cannot be accepted because “Mġarr Road, Għajnsielem, has been recently designed and such changes are deemed not acceptable according to design specifications” .

I think this response is childish. It shows people like him do not know or live this horror day in, day out in such a road as we do.

The traffic signage should also be changed. Certain solid lines should be broken lines because it makes it difficult for someone trying to go to the centre of Għajnsielem. Even to get on to the main road from Għajnsielem one has to drive around till one finds a roundabout and proceed on one’s way.

There should definitely be more traffic-calming measures in Mġarr Road, including pelican lights, speed cameras, better signage and a greater presence of police and wardens.