A report encouraging safer and more pedestrian friendly traffic flows within Sliema was presented to the media and the Sliema council today by the Today Public Policy Institute, which conducted the study.
The report suggests a series of relatively minor modifications, such as the installation of 'give way to pedestrian' signs in areas where pedestrians and cars often conflicted, such as the access to Tower Road from the Exiles Car Park.
It proposes calming traffic in Tower Road by reducing the speed limit to 30km/hour and calls for the introduction of zebra crossings at regular intervals and the installation of roundabouts at Font Ghadir and the junction between Tower and Qui-si-Sana roads to discourage fast driving.
The report suggests one-level roads to be wholly shared by pedestrians and cars. These would replace the current road/pavement system where the road is for cars, the pavement for pedestrians.
George Debono, who is a board member of the institute, said the report built upon general proposals made in a previous report in 2008.
Roads in Malta, he said, had been built in the same way for 150 years. But the modern concept of roads was to return them to the people creating a shared space "with pedestrians and cars mixing happily".
Dr Debono gave the example of Bordeaux where roads were built for pedestrians rather than cars. He hoped the report would serve as a model for other councils to emulate.
Maltese politicians, Dr Debono said, suffered from a Mussolini syndrome with a predilection for major projects rather than many small ones.
He gave the example of the newly pedestrianised Bizazza Street with Howard Street, which he described as the ugliest street in the world, being only a few metres away.
Among other things, the report also looks at increasing provisions for cycling. It proposes that cycling on the promenade should be permitted until more permanent solutions are in place.
It notes that people are forced to use their cars due to the nature of their surroundings. But Malta is reaching a tipping point where using a car is becoming counter-productive, the report says.
The full report can be read at:
http://www.tppi.org.mt/cms/index.php/news/1/567-healthy-mobility-in-sliema