Part of the Valletta ditch will be converted into a car park but it will not be visible from the City Gate Bridge, Valletta mayor Alexiei Dingli said.
The parking solution was unveiled by Culture Minister Owen Bonnici yesterday as part of a series of “sustainable” projects given money through a new €1 million fund.
Prof. Dingli said when contacted that the car park would not replace plans for a garden in the ditch and would run along part of the moat not visible from the capital’s main entrance. “You won’t see any cars from the bridge; there will be a garden there as planned,” he said.
World-renowned architect Renzo Piano, who designed the City Gate project, earmarked the open space in the ditch for a public garden costing about €1.9 million. However, in July 2013, the Labour administration opted to shelve the garden to cut costs.
You won’t see any cars from the bridge; there will be a garden as planned
Contacted last month, Transport Minister Joe Mizzi categorically denied a car park would replace the garden. Prof. Dingli said the entire ditch, often referred to as Yellow Garage, could fit about 1,000 parking bays, however, the area would not be wholly used for the project.
Instead, vehicles will enter through a slip road near the Excelsior Hotel and parking bays will run until just before the area beneath the City Gate bridge.
The original suggestion to build a car park in the ditch had irked architects, who took to social media to urge the government not to “waste valuable open space”.
The €1 million fund for capital projects was launched in January and Dr Bonnici said more than 83 proposals had been submitted by 53 local councils.
The final selection was made by a board set up to evaluate the proposed projects’ feasibility and sustainability.
Another body was set up to allow councils whose projects were rejected to appeal the decision. The main criteria used to select the projects were whether they would generate any profit that could, in turn, be injected back into the project fund. Picking up on this, Dr Bonnici said he wanted projects that did not worsen local councils’ already difficult financial situation.
Quoting a 2013 Auditor General report, Dr Bonnici said councils’ debt amounted to about €22 million, something he was committed to address.
Other projects accepted include a park-and-ride system on Manoel Island and resurfacing of Ħal Safi Road, a main thoroughfare in Gudja that has long frustrated residents.