The long-awaited spaghetti junction in Kappara could finally materialise after Malta Transport submitted an application to the Malta Environment and Planning Authority.
Once completed, the €25 million project is expected to ease traffic on the four thoroughfares. Several attempts to solve the problem over the years have failed, including the installation of traffic lights on the roundabout.
The multi-level junction, that includes a flyover, has been in the offing since the early 1990s and Mepa permits for a previous design had already been issued.
In 2003, it had been announced that a new road leading from Gżira seafront to the Kappara Junction would be completed by 2006 because of the impact of traffic to and from Sliema as a result of the development at Manoel Island and Tigné Point.
The road, together with all the infrastructure services that went with it, was the government's responsibility. However, the project was placed on the back burner due to lack of funds.
Now that this project has been included in the list for EU funds - forming part of the Ten-T network - work is underway to improve earlier designs. Sources close to Malta Transport said this could include the expropriation of land to introduce better alignment of the road.
The project includes building a flyover over the Kappara roundabout, structural improvements of the interchange and the Ġużè Ellul Mercer Bridge, and an underpass for pedestrians.
The Kappara roundabout project was first ditched for the re-building of Għadira Road. However, since the latter involved commissioning a number of studies, Malta would have missed the deadline to apply for EU funds. So the government decided to switch the two initiatives in terms of priority.
Malta Transport has submitted the application which has been passed to a case officer to assess the development proposal in terms of the structure plan and other established policies.
Replying to a parliamentary question late last month, Transport Minister Austin Gatt said the Kappara project was still on the cards.
He said the Mepa process would include full-scale consultation with residents in the area.
The Mepa process is still in its initial stages and no artists' impressions of what the project will look like are available as yet.