Transport Malta has vehemently defended its record on road maintenance in the wake of an article in last Sunday’s newspaper on potholes, claiming roads have significantly improved and insisting many of the worst offending roads do not fall under its remit.
Stretches of road are resurfaced with hot asphalt making them more durable
“We find that emergency interventions are becoming less frequent, basically because of better road construction techniques in use and improving repair methods,” a Transport Malta spokesman said.
He also cited a decrease in the volume and value of claims for reimbursement for damaged vehicles over the past three years as further proof of improvement.
The Sunday Times last week published photos and mentions of some of the largest and most dangerous potholes that had emerged or worsened after heavy rains lashed the island.
These included potholes on Testaferrata Street in Gżira, Ta’ Qali ring road, Triq San Albert in Ġzira and the Coast Road in Baħar iċ-Ċagħaq, as well as others in Birkirkara, Lija and St Andrews.
Transport Malta is only responsible for the upkeep and maintenance of arterial and distributor roads, while local councils are responsible for the maintenance of all other roads in their localities unless privately owned.
Transport Malta acknowledged responsibility for the giant Coast Road pothole – where one recovery driver claimed he encountered seven stricken vehicles at the same time – but said this was fixed on November 30.
The spokesman also referred to a press release issued on that same day as evidence of how proactive the authority was in dealing with problems of maintenance on roads under its remit.
The press release details 59 locations where emergency works were needed following a detailed assessment of damage incurred to the road network due to heavy downpours over the previous 36 hours, and vows that works will be carried out over the next few days.
Type of damage was listed as ‘potholes’ in 18 of these locations, ‘damaged asphalt’ in 13 locations and ‘road collapse’ in one location.
Critics point out that northern European countries that experience considerably more rainfall do not seem to suffer such damage to their road networks after heavy rain.
Nevertheless, Transport Malta insists better construction and repair techniques on arterial and distributor roads have reduced problems.
Such techniques include using cold asphalt to fill potholes in emergency situations, before stretches of road are “eventually… resurfaced with hot asphalt, thereby ensuring durability of the repair works. As our hot asphalt interventions become more extensive, the state of the road being repaired is found to be less dramatic”.
Transport Malta’s increased commitment to improving roads is substantiated by a government budget for major patching over the past four years surpassing €50, excluding EU-funded projects, the spokesman said.
Transport Malta is also “deploying various materials” to tackle cracks, thereby slowing down the formation of potholes.
The authority “is staffed by highly qualified personnel who work to established legislation and international standards. Independent laboratories test the quality of the road works and works are accepted or redone based on the test results,” the spokesman added.
He also took exception to comments from an unnamed road contractor who told this paper last week that contactors knew they could get away with shoddy work.
“If this person is really ‘in the know’ then he would surely also be aware that Transport Malta regularly asks contractors to redo parts or whole of their work,” the spokesman said.
He cited an instance recently when Transport Malta noticed defects on roads it had commissioned for asphalting in the Zabbar, Vittoriosa, Kalkara areas.
Works will be redone at the contractors’ expense shortly, and payments due will only be made upon certification of works by an independent laboratory.
“Transport Malta just does not go about publicising every such instance,” the spokesman said.
Following last Sunday’s article, readers flooded timesofmalta.com and The Sunday Times with their own photographic and anecdotal evidence of potholes they had encountered.
It seems Ġzira council has responded to criticism of potholes on Testaferrata Street as it has been patched up, but some readers in Gudja, Mosta and St Paul’s Bay in particular seem to be angry about the lack of remedial action on certain roads in their localities.
pcooke@timesofmalta.com