The government is to go ahead with the building of a pedestrian bridge across the Mrieħel bypass in Qormi after signing the relevant contract, Qormi Mayor Rosienne Cutajar has announced.

A planning commission within Mepa had given the go-ahead in April 2014.

The footbridge will consist of two steel structures on either side of the road rising from a concrete square base of around 10m sq. The bridge will be some 12 metres high.

The structure will be made of anti-reflective steel and screened by metal perforated architectural screening. It will have a lift and solar panels.

Residents of Tal-Blat in Qormi had long complained of being cut off from the town centre when the bypass was built in the early 1990s.

Their plight gained momentum when two girls were killed while crossing the busy artery to reach their house a few years ago. Plans by the previous administration to build a pedestrian bridge never materialised, with arguments having been made that too few people would use it.