Commuters will have to contend with the one-week partial closure of St Paul Street in Valletta from today as resurfacing works start.

The road will be closed from Auberge de Castille to the corner of Old Theatre Street, the city council said in a letter to residents and business owners dated last Friday.

The Times received the letter announcing the closure yesterday.

A council spokesman said diversion signs were erected yesterday in strategic places in and around the city to inform drivers of the partial closure of one of its busiest roads.

The rest of the road has already been resurfaced as part of a public-private partnership with the local council.

Works on the section between Castille and Old Theatre Street have been pending since summer 2011 when protests from business owners about the timing led to a postponement.

Meanwhile, questions sent to the Infrastructure Ministry about when the already inaugurated De Valette Square in the capital would actually be completed had not been answered at the time of going to press. The square was officially inaugurated in late November but there remains a bare wall where the former police station once stood.

A restored facade of the Auberge d’Italie will eventually occupy this site as part of the Renzo Piano-designed City Gate project.