A call for tenders for the building of two flyovers at the congested Kappara junction has been issued by the government’s department of contracts.

The call  refers to the construction of a “grade-separated junction”.

Last year Transport Malta obtained a planning permit to have two flyovers connecting one side of the Regional Road to the other, while retaining the roundabout.

The original plan was for the works to start in July and last 18 months, but a transport spokesman had said “start dates are entirely dependent on the tendering and evaluation process”.

The aim of the ambitious project is to ease traffic – currently the junction handles around 6,000 vehicles an hour during peak times. The original cost of the scheme was estimated to be around €25 million but the transport authority had admitted last year it was going to cost more without revealing the final figure.

The works will be divided into phases to allow traffic to use two lanes in each direction during construction. The roundabout will initially be removed and a temporary one created near the junction at Zammit Clapp Hospital, retaining a number of key traffic movements.