Besides the fact that Transport Malta has managed to make itself the laughing stock of of motorists using the Salina/ Naxxar Road on a regular basis. All the signage has been replaced, but in a larger size.

Some crossings within a few metres of bends and corners are not adequately visible to approaching drivers

The accompanying photo shows how dangerous things are now. On the pole there is a triple sign indicating the narrowing of the road; two-way traffic and that it all happens in 100 metres. As the road is already carrying two-way traffic the sign is dangerously misleading. Should any stranger approach the magic 100-metre point on the right-hand lane he may well be surprised to find cars approaching head on. In fact, we neither need the pole nor any of the nonsense it portrays. Thank God, many motorists refuse to take note of most traffic signs anyway.

I also notice that the incorrect ‘Stop’ sign has been replaced at the junction of the Bidnija Road with the Mosta/Burmurrad Road at the Tarġa Gap hairpin. This ‘Stop’ sign should obviously have been replaced with a ‘Give Way’ sign as there is very good visibility and heavily laden trucks find it hard enough to restart if forced to stop at this junction.

The only people to benefit from any incorrectly signed roads are the contractors who blindly follow instructions, and possibly those who, for one reason or another, may accrue more than ‘brownie’ points by having tax payers pay for totally unnecessary signage.

Pedestrian crossings

The definitive policy evolved over many years by the Traffic Control Board was that “no pedestrian crossings will be placed less than 25 metres from a corner, and each and every crossing will have flashing, orange, Belisha beacons as well as spot lamps”.

This has been superseded in as much as certain crossings can be placed between five and 20 metres from a corner or a roundabout.

The earlier policy was based entirely on providing the maximum safety for pedestrians and would eventually have worked in conjunction with paragraph 43 of our Highway Code which states: “Where there is a pedestrian crossing place (or subway) within a reasonable distance (50 metres or less) do not cross the road at any other point”.

Sadly, pedestrians, even with children, are not inclined to walk any distance at all to use a crossing or subway. Enforcement has never been introduced and so we have adopted a measure which works far better in the northern reaches of the EU than it does in the far south.

Obviously this lack of enforcement is a shame because in our opinion some crossings within a few metres of bends and corners are not adequately visible to approaching drivers during certain times of day and under certain road conditions.

In fact, when faced with a visibility problem elsewhere this scribe had back-to-back pedestrian crossing signs erected in case parked delivery trucks made it impossible to see the crossing on the approach side.

At night the flashing Belisha beacons make a lot of sense, and the crossings just off the roundabout going up or down the St Paul’s Bay Bypass are properly lit while the crossing on the Burmurrad approach simply had static orange lights.

There is absolutely no excuse for Transport Malta roads to be ill equipped as far as any street furniture is concerned.

Traffic lights once more

Casting through a multitude of notes made many years ago we came across the erection of the mass of lights on the Tal-Barrani Road.

These were properly timed so that if a motorist arrived at the first set as the lights were turning green, he could proceed at normal speed and would find that at each junction the lights were green.

Thank you to the person named David who is responsible for doing such a professional job. Would it be too much to ask that this man to take time from the ministry and ask him to review the timing of all traffic lights, with the idea of making the whole caboose realistic in today’s day and age and not suitable for the traffic mass found in the 1990s?

Would it be too much to also ask him to finally make the end of Kennedy Drive a ‘Left Turn’ only?