Of proper traffic lights at Qawra

It must always be understood, especially by my critics within Transport Malta that the ideas expressed within these monthly paragraphs are my personal opinions. While they are based upon my experience as a Traffic Management Consultant within the ADT and 15 years of experience the thoughts are nevertheless my own and not part of some dastardly master plan, where relevant, to overcome the Transport Malta traffic management people.

At this pleasant Yuletide I really must congratulate ‘The Major,’ Peter Ripard, for his interesting, informative lecture on all aspects of Road Safety given one recent Saturday evening to members of the Old Motors Club.

I must also congratulate someone at Transport Malta for not only changing the timing for the better, but the traffic lights themselves allowing people to get into Qawra and Bugibba in a proper time span.

These lights appear to have provision for Red/Green cameras to be mounted atop each pole. At this particular site such cameras would achieve the whole purpose behind deterrent cameras. That is that they would book anyone jumping a red light, or anyone going through a green light at a speed faster than that so designated by our resident experts.

This might at last be the precursor of “left turn only” signs being created near Kennedy Grove, as the junction of Kennedy Drive with the Coast road is largely responsible for the traffic delays in this area.

While so cogitating, how about forgetting the roundabout at the Salina end of the Salina/Naxxar road and placing innovative traffic lights more in tune with our times rather than those that the Traffic Control Board had approved in the mid-1990s.

I am thinking along the lines of placing lights on the Coast Road from the Sliema direction and on the Salina/Naxxar road from the direction of Naxxar while leaving the other traffic lanes free to go on their unrestricted way. A roundabout is not the answer as traffic has to give way to the right and the Coast Road is busier than the Naxxar/Salina road, so the status quo will remain.

• This is also the time of year when I appeal drivers to take real care. Forget the joys of drink driving. Only drive when alcohol beverages have not been consumed. Drink driving can unfortunately easily kill, maim and generally upset, ruin and devastate families and friends of all those involved because innocent and guilty can in the worst scenario all be killed or left paralysed and wheelchair-bound until they die.

• I read with shock and horror that the Attard Council is proposing to introduce, what appears to be, a blanket 30km/h speed limit for the area.

Let’s try and be reasonable. There are areas, especially in village core streets where 30km/h may be too fast, and frankly there can be little opposition to what’s called local access roads being restricted to 30 km/h.

However through-roads really should be no slower than 40 km/h. 35 km/h was a pleasant sounding speed but unless the car or bike has a digital speedometer it is almost impossible to read 35k from the normal speedometer.

I advocate that as long as a main road, either Council or Transport Malta roads are wide enough the speed should be left as it was 50 years ago, that is 50 km/h. We have a new bus service where Arriva is being fined for not keeping to schedule, a schedule that most certainly has not been worked on a maximum speed of 30km/h.

In fact if this speed restriction occurs on our through routes the journey time will be heavily compromised, not by a couple of minutes longer on a journey as many people think, but to be safe the vehicles will be moving at about 25 to 27 km/h, possibly for kilometres on end and the paying public requires public transport to get them to their destination at a fair speed and in good time.

• I hold no brief for amateurs in road signage so hold no lasting grudge against Victor Battistino, senior manager customer care at TM for attempting to cut me down to size.

I blame the CEO and the senior manager traffic management with my own bete noire in the background, and just to continue along the Naxxar/Salina road, which incurred the wrath of so many powerful people within Transport Malta, the Coast Road is most certainly not of equal importance to the Salina Naxxar road as proclaimed by the recently erected ‘T’ junction sign some metres before the junction.