Work will soon start on the busy Manwel Dimech Street in Qormi, and Triq Buqana in Mtarfa to help ease the traffic problem, Transport Minister Ian Borg said this morning.
Speaking to the media about roadworks planned or which kicked off in the first 100 days of a Labour government, Dr Borg said the traffic challenge was no secret, but responsibility on the roads had to be shouldered by the users, regulators and enforcers.
Confirming that human resources within the enforcement and traffic management units will increase, he urged Transport Malta to maximise the use of new technology and methodology.
Triq Buqana – leading from the Mtarfa roundabout to the Mgarr-Mosta roundabout - will get an additional lane in the direction of the Mosta roundabout.
There will also be a new roundabout on Vjal Indipendenza in Mosta, the minister added.
Work on Triq Manuel Dimech in Qormi will start soon, but will be done in phases. Manuel Dimech Street will be expanded to accommodate two lanes on both sides, and a small junction will be created just outside the Marsa park and ride.
Dr Borg said the traffic challenge was no secret, but responsibility on the roads had to be shouldered by the users, regulators and enforcers
The government was working on enhancing the design of some roads, with projects like the Kappara junction and the Marsa-Ħamrun bypass being on track.
The lanes on each side of the Kappara flyover will be completed by the end of September, and the minister expressed hope that work on the Marsa-Ħamrun bypass project kicks off before January.
In the meantime, his ministry was working with TM architects on other challenging routes and junctions. Work has already been carried out on at the Lija roundabout, which hosted some 2,400 vehicles every hour in the morning, and also on the Gudja roundabout, which saw more than 4,000 vehicles per hour.
Asked whether he had met with cyclists, who over the past weeks expressed safety concerns related to works at both of these roundabouts, the minister said he did so last week. The transport authorities had taken on board their concerns, but there was “no magic wand” that would solve traffic problems for all road users.
The Kordin roundabout in Paola will be completed by the end of September as will work at a new junction at the bottom of Ingiered Road and Triq il-Mosta in Lija.
The works here will stretch from the Lija cemetery to the Technopark. The authorities are looking into maximising the road capacity and increase a lane on both lanes for better access.
Other resurfacing works, such as those in Triq Bontadini in Birkirkara, should be completed by the end of September. Dr Borg referred to media reports about work on this notorious road that had to be redone from scratch. He said that it had been a contractor’s mistake, and was redone within hours, with the bill being pocketed by the contractor.
All of these works were not part of the Labour’s seven-year pledge, for which the government would be setting up of a specific agency in the first half of next year, Dr Borg noted.
In his address, he insisted that these roadworks would not solve the daily traffic challenge, but will certainly alleviate mobility in those particular hotspots.
Asked about the road connecting Mosta to Mġarr, where several road accidents have been reported over the past years, Dr Borg said the problem was two-pronged: some roads built over the past 20 years had not been designed properly, while drivers were also negligent.
“We need to avoid knee-jerk reactions following accidents. However, I can confirm that the authorities are looking into how to make the road safer. This is irrespective from any particular incident.”
He again referred to a Labour pledge – the setting up of an Accident Safety Agency – which would not only investigate past accidents on land, sea and aviation, but also be proactive and look into roads where accidents could happen.