One of Malta's busiest arteries, December 13 Road in Marsa, will be closed off for six months to be rebuilt and include a tunnel.
The project is expected to be completed in 50 weeks and the road will be closed to traffic for 26 weeks, a planning authority board heard yesterday as it approved the full development permit.
The existing wide centre strip between the two carriageways in December 13 Road will be narrowed and the road will be realigned to make space for an underpass, which will branch off from the left lane leading to Valletta, just before the footbridge. Cars would pass through the short tunnel to exit next to Spencer Gardens and Hexagon House in the Menqa area in Marsa.
A Transport Ministry spokesman said it was too early to say when the project would start, but the calls for tenders would soon be issued. It was also too early to estimate how much the project would cost, especially because it formed part of larger plans for the area.
The underpass will be built by cutting through the rock and then creating a concrete framework.
The construction works will not only affect the flow of traffic but will also restrict access to a football ground close to Hexagon House.
As a result, the planning authority imposed a planning gain contribution of €35,000 on Transport Malta, which would be used to upgrade other playing fields in Marsa. The money will also serve to replace about 80 trees that will have to be uprooted and planted elsewhere as a result of the work.
Marsa local council objected to the decision and accused the planning authority of failing to carry out a "serious" public consultation on such an invasive project. "Today, Mepa showed the reform did not make it move closer to the residents' interests," the council said.
People who lived close to December 13 suffered all year round because of unbearable smells and drainage constantly seeping into roads, it added.
Mepa chairman Austin Walker said he was surprised at the council's reaction. "As part of the planning process, Mepa twice informed the council about this project and never received a single reaction or request for a meeting to discuss the plans," he said.