Works are due to start tomorrow on the Kappara junction, long feared by motorists because of the traffic disruption they are expected to cause.

But drivers can sit back for a little longer in the knowledge that the dreaded diversions will only start coming into force sometime next month.

Tomorrow, Transport Malta will start excavating the roundabout’s palm trees, which are now synonymous with the area. A spokesman for the transport authority said workers would be carrying out preparations during the day and removing the trees over the course of several nights.

Walls and similar structures will also be demolished in the weeks ahead in preparation for the major works.

So while the groundwork will start being laid for the €22.4 million project, to be carried out in phases stretching well into next year, commuters will only start feeling the effects around mid-May, the spokesman told The Sunday Times of Malta.

Detailed information on alternative routes will be issued in the coming days, he said, adding the routes will mainly be circulatory so as to facilitate traffic flow in the affected areas.

Alternative routes will start coming on stream from May

“The plan stipulates a number of alternative routes that will streamline traffic while reducing the cross flows and thus encouraging a steady flow.

“Alternative routes will start coming on stream from May and are scheduled to be fully functional by the time the major disruptions on the actual junction begin.”

As the project proceeds in phases over the next year and a half, instructions related to the traffic diversions will be issued regularly and the extent of disruption will vary.

Transport Minister Joe Mizzi said last week that discussions were taking place with a number of local councils on how to minimise inconvenience for ­­­­residents and drivers.

San Ġwann mayor Etienne Bonello DuPuis said the council has been in talks with Transport Malta for years and it would continue to work closely with it and monitor its efforts to mitigate traffic.

“The council has always stressed the point that residents have to be protected both at design stage and during the ongoing works,” he said.

The transport authority, he added, had committed to the resurfacing of a number of roads which would take the bulk of rerouted traffic.

The mayor also said the council would be working with TM when issuing any permits for cranes to operate on roads with high-volume traffic, so as not to add to the congestion.­­­

This sentiment was echoed by both the Msida and Ta’ Xbiex councils, who said they had been working alongside the transport watchdog for months to develop a system that would minimise the effects on residents concerned about traffic influx from other areas. Both localities have also seen infrastructural works taking place over the past few months.

This was not the case in Sliema, according to mayor Anthony Chircop. He said there were no structures in place and the council had not had any meetings with TM.

“A meeting was set last week by the ministry for l­­­­­ocal councils to attend an already prepared presentation on the traffic arrangements. This is surely not consultation, nor coordination.

“We were also informed quite late about this meeting, a few hours beforehand, and we couldn’t attend because of prior arrangements. We were later informed of the traffic arrangements by councillors from other localities.”

Mr Chircip added that Transport Malta had not yet provided the council with traffic diversion plans.

While the council was expecting traffic to increase at Manuel Dimech Street and Tower Road, “no attempts have been made by TM to resurface parts of these roads, which are already collapsing”.

The Sliema council last week wrote to the Transport Malta chairman highlighting the fact that traffic re-routing would cause greater problems in Sliema since many roads were not in a good condition and had not been resurfaced.

Sorry for the inconvenience…

Over the coming weeks, drivers who would normally pass through the Kappara junction will be urged to use alternative routes. The diversions will funnel drivers away from the works at Kappara through roads in Sliema, San Ġwann, Msida, Gżira and Ta’ Xbiex.

As the works progress in the busy area phase by phase, Transport Malta will be issuing instructions on the routes that should be used. Those at the busiest junctions are scheduled to be fully functional by the time major disruptions start.

While drivers will have to plan their trips depending on the diversions, commuters making use of public transport will not be affected, a spokesman for the authority said.

None of the bus routes will be suspended even while the major works are being carried out and other traffic is diverted. For buses, “minimal diversions” should then be expected during the project’s final stages.

A sample of the Kappara traffic arrangements to be introduced in phases:

• Drivers heading towards Gżira from the Msida skatepark will have to pass through the Msida Circus area and head up Rue d’Argens in Sliema before taking a left on to Reggie Miller Street.

• Motorists coming from the north will have to come off the Birkirkara bypass to reach St Julian’s. They will be diverted through Għargħur Road in Iklin towards Tal-Balal Street in San Ġwann. From there, they would pass through Bellavista Street and then Birkirkara Road in St Julian’s before getting to the Mrabat area.

• To get from St Julian’s to Ta’ Xbiex, drivers will have to head towards Rue D’Argens through Reggie Miller Street and take a right on to Msida Road towards the Council of Europe Gardens at Ta’ Xbiex.

• Diversions will also be in place for drivers heading to Pieta’ from St Julian’s. They will drive around the Sliema front, by Manoel island, through the Ta’ Xbiex waterfront and past the Msida Yacht Marina.

• The priority lanes between Sliema and Ta’ Xbiex will be suspended to increase road capacity by having two lanes throughout.

• The Qui-si-Sana seafront will be two lane in one direction, towards the Sliema Strand and Gżira.