The first major traffic disturbance from the Kappara junction, works on which started this morning, are expected in May.

Transport Malta said drivers would be encouraged to take alternative routes as of May as new culverts would be dug around the Kappara roundabout for electrical cables supplying Mater Dei Hospital and Sliema.

These works will form part of the second of 10 stages of works and will mark the first in a series of road closures. TM said much of the disturbance would be when schools were closed and most of the works would be carried out at night.

The culverts would be followed by the widening of the road adjacent to the University, the laying of a new storm water network, the demolition of several existing structures, the lowering of the roundabout by a metre, the laying of the bridge’s foundations and its final construction.

The €22.5million project is set to take 77 weeks to complete and TM chief executive James Piscopo said a complex plan had been devised to minimise inconvenience to motorists.

A TM study of the junction found that some 90,000 cars used the roundabout every day, with the project expected to reduce this load by half when completed.

Until then, TM has identified bottlenecks such as the junction exit leading to Gzira and the lanes would be reworked to enable smoother traffic flows. The traffic lights leading off Sliema Road and onto Rue D’argens would be reprogrammed to deal with traffic flows.

Other works include the repaving of some 10 surrounding areas and the widening of other routes.

Several parking spaces which would have slowed traffic down would be removed during parts of the project, and some bus lanes would be opened up to traffic at a later stage.

 Mr Piscopo said the roundabout outside Mater Dei would also be made smaller to facilitate traffic coming out of and into the San Ġwann area. TM enforcement officers would be stationed at highlighted traffic hotspots to ensure order was kept by motorists.

Mr Piscopo said TM had insisted that the Kappara junction never be fully closed to traffic as it was a major artery.

“Contractors will obviously want to have the area sealed off as it facilitates work, but we were adamant that it always remain partially open,” he said.