The southbound carriageway of the Marsa-Ħamrun bypass from the Santa Venera tunnels and Mrieħel towards Marsa will be closed all day on Saturday, Infrastructure Malta has warned road users.
Lanes will be closed off to allow workers to start laying a new asphalt surface, concluding a €5 million project commenced earlier in the year.
Road users were being encouraged to use alternative routes through Msida and Marsa (Triq Diċembru 13), or through Żebbuġ, Qormi and Luqa, when travelling towards the south.
The southbound carriageway of the Santa Venera tunnels (Regional Road) should be avoided since its exit towards the Marsa-Ħamrun Bypass would be closed. All road users would be diverted to an alternative route through Qormi.
Vehicles travelling to the south from the Mrieħel Bypass would be diverted to Msida or Qormi.
Police and Transport Malta traffic management officers would be stationed in the area, and along all alternative routes, to guide road users.
Works are scheduled to commence at 2am, with asphalt laying and compacting works on the three-lane carriageway expected to last more than 28 hours. The road will be reopened on Sunday morning.
The same carriageway will be closed again on Tuesday at 7pm until Wednesday at 5am, as workers apply the road's topmost asphalt cover.
Similar works to complete the northbound carriageway are scheduled to be carried out between October 13 and 17.
The Marsa-Ħamrun bypass has been widened to a six-lane road over the past months, eliminating bottlenecks that caused delays. Infrastructure Malta estimates that the works will cut travelling times by 42 per cent and improve the area’s air quality, by decreasing congestion emissions.
Authorities had originally set an April 2019 deadline to complete the project. Infrastructure Malta now estimates the project will be done and dusted next month.
It forms part of a wider €14.2 million investment to upgrade the arterial south-central road link, from Triq Aldo Moro in Marsa to the Santa Venera tunnels and the Mrieħel Bypass at Santa Venera and Qormi.
That wider investment includes another two projects, including the second phase of the Marsa Junction Project at the Addolorata Cemetery intersection and the rebuilding of parts of Triq Diċembru 13 and the northern end of Triq Aldo Moro, which are also being completed in October.
Together, these upgrades are giving road users over 15 kilometres of new or rebuilt lanes and 10 upgraded junctions.