Work on the upper part of St Paul Street, one of Valletta’s two main traffic arteries, was due to start in summer and to be completed by mid-August, Valletta mayor Alexei Dingli said.

The resurfacing of the lower, more residential part of the road was completed by mid-November. The parking lot markings and the laying down of cat eyes was only finished yesterday, following tarmac tests.

Work on four other intersecting roads – St Nicholas, Old Hospital and North streets and Old Hospital Alley – will start in January.

Parliamentary Secretary Chris Said was in St Paul Street just as cat eyes had been drilled into the road. He said the road was one of five in Valletta that the council would be upgrading through a private-public partnership.

The council, however, had to fork out money to level out the pavements, which were not covered by the partnership.

In summer, the council bowed to pressure to postpone work on the upper half of the road to next year after the business community insisted August was the worst time for such work.

The pressure mounted as the top part of the street became a main artery following the closure of Pope Pius V Street, which ran above the old City Gate. As a result, the job was divided into two phases: the first one between Old Hospital and Archbishop streets and the second, which will start in June, between Castille and Old Theatre Street.

Traffic access to Valletta might have to be diverted to the lower roads of the city in summer, Dr Dingli said.