Motorists can brace themselves for some overhead advertising as they drive down the Mrieħel bypass when the pedestrian bridge is completed.
The Transport Ministry has confirmed that the company building the overhead footpath will have exclusive rights to use the bridge surfaces for advertising as part of a 20-year concession agreement.
Earlier this week in Parliament, Transport Minister Joe Mizzi said the bridge was being built under a public-private partnership and would cost some €1 million. Works on the structure were expected to finish by June, he added.
Asked about the business model adopted to finance the project, a ministry spokeswoman said the government would not fork out any money.
The project was handled by the Contracts Department and the tender was awarded last year to Steel Structures Ltd after a competitive process.
“The private company will design, construct, operate and maintain the pedestrian bridge for a concession period of 20 years,” she said, adding the concessionaire was contractually bound not to charge any fees for the use of the bridge.
The Mrieħel bypass bridge was an electoral pledge made by the Labour Party in the wake of a fatal traffic accident in 2005 when two girls were mowed down as they crossed the road to return home.
The girls lived in the residential area on the industrial estate side of the bypass, which was cut off from Qormi centre when the road was built in the mid-1990s.
In the last administration, former transport minister Austin Gatt had reversed plans to build the bridge laid out by his predecessor Jesmond Mugliett. A planning permit issued in 2009 was scrapped because it was claimed the bridge was unfeasible since only some 40 people a year crossed the busy road.
Three years ago the Planning Authority approved the permit for the new plans that included lifts and stairwells on either side of the road.
In Parliament, Mr Mizzi told Nationalist MP Jason Azzopardi the government was considering a proposal for the pedestrian footbridge to be named after the two girls killed in the 2005 accident, Emma Housley and Graziella Fenech.
kurt.sansone@timesofmalta.com