The lack of lifts makes the Mrieħel footbridge a barrier for those with mobility issues and cyclists, who are calling for the installation of ramps instead.

Without lifts, which replaced the ramps in the original design, people with mobility issues, the elderly, those with pushchairs and cyclists are unable to access the bridge, and this make them risk crossing the road, possibly leading to another tragedy, the Bicycling Advocacy Group warns.

The bypass bridge was a Labour electoral pledge in the wake of a fatal traffic accident in 2005, when two girls were mowed down as they crossed the road to return home.

We built the bridge to save drivers’ time, not lives

The company building the overhead footpath has exclusive rights to use the bridge surfaces for advertising as part of a 20-year concession agreement reached with the government.

The advertising space started to be used in May, soon after the horizontal structure across the road was put in place, but the lifts are still nowhere in sight.

Earlier in September, cyclists called for traffic lights across the bypass in the wake of reports that the lifts would not be installed.

BAG has always maintained that a light-controlled crossing was the simplest solution at that location, given the low volume of foot traffic. It is now raising the issue again, arguing that cyclists still have to make a dangerous right turn across traffic.

The group believes that cyclists will be better off with ramps, because waiting on either side of the bridge for a lift, especially if there is a queue, could affect trip efficiency. A lift could ultimately push riders back onto the road, BAG explains.

“By creating a bridge we have admitted that the risks are too high for pedestrians, but it seems acceptable for people on bicycles to make a dangerous right turn across traffic,” spokesman Jim Wightman said, noting that BAG was never consulted over the footbridge.

“We built the bridge to save drivers’ time, not lives. Otherwise, a pelican crossing would have been more appropriate, considering the small number of pedestrians, and this would have marginally slowed traffic briefly a few times a day,” Mr Wightman says.