The authorities should have thought twice before authorising the closure of arterial roads around Santa Venera this year, since congestion is already rife due to the Kappara junction project, traffic expert Simon Micallef Stafrace believes.

Fireworks, part of celebrations to mark St Venera’s feast, are being let off between 10pm and 11pm tomorrow. As a result, the Santa Venera tunnels, from the slip road from Psaila Street towards Marsa, the Marsa bypass from the tunnels up to the area known as Salib tal-Marsa, the slip road from Dicembru 13 Road to the Marsa bypass and the Mrieħel bypass will be closed off to traffic from 9.30pm to 11.30pm.

The closure of the arterial roads occurs every year to allow for fireworks to be set off. But while the closing off of main roads is always problematic, this year it was even more so because of the works being carried out at Kappara, Dr Micallef Stafrace said.

This happens every year, but what can you do, not hold village feasts? Traffic congestion is a day-to-day thing in Malta, and closing off the roads for a couple of hours is no big deal

“You would think that the authorities, be it the police or Transport Malta, would have taken into consideration the fact that there are a number of roads that are already not being used. It’s going to be a nightmare for sure,” the expert said.

He added that while drivers’ frustrations were one problem, there was also the issue of health and safety that had to be taken into consideration when such permits were issued. “One would have thought that this year, things would be different,” Dr Micallef Stafrace said.

The closure of main roads because of village feasts made headlines earlier this month as parts of the Mrieħel and Santa Venera bypasses were closed off during the Msida feast. Marsa mayor Francis Debono said that while these would surely cause some congestion, it was to be expected when such events took place and there was not much that could be done to avoid them.

“This happens every year, but what can you do, not hold village feasts? Traffic congestion is a day-to-day thing in Malta and closing off the roads for a couple of hours is no big deal,” Mr Debono said.

On whether residents had complained to the council about the issue, the mayor said that so far, he had not received complaints.

Similar sentiments were echoed by Birkirkara mayor Joanne Debono Grech, who said that no residents had complained.

A Transport Malta spokesman said that traffic coming from Mrieħel bypass will have access down to Santa Venera tunnels to Kappara, while traffic towards Marsa would be diverted.

He added that traffic coming from Aldo Moro Street will not be able to reach the Marsa bypass but will be diverted on to Diċembru 13 Road.

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