Revised plans for the Rabat Road project will still result in the loss of a large tract of agricultural land equivalent to the size of six football pitches.
Moreover, while the mature Aleppo pines between the chapel of Our Lady of Victories in Attard and the foot of Saqqajja Hill have been spared, about 180 trees in the remaining stretch all the way down to Mrieħel will be chopped down.
Submitted on Thursday, the fresh plans were drawn up in the wake of the controversy that erupted last month when the Times of Malta reported that close to 200 Aleppo pine trees had been earmarked for destruction.
The changes were announced in a Transport Ministry statement, which pointed out that less agricultural land would be taken than originally planned. It was also stated there would be a net gain of 550 trees in view of the planting of 700 indigenous trees as part of the project.
The statement, however, made no direct mention of any uprooting, and no figure was given for the virgin land required for the €55 million project to materialise.
Unveiled in May, the Central Link Project aims to alleviate traffic congestion in the Attard village core, particularly the bottleneck in Triq in-Nutar Zarb. This comprises the widening of the Rabat Road and constructing a bypass on the outskirts of Attard along the route of some residential roads, which will be linked together.
“The plan to absorb undeveloped land has been reduced to 47,219m2 – down by 10,682m2, or 18 per cent”
The project stretches from Saqqajja Hill, Rabat, all the way down the Mrieħel Bypass opposite the Malta Financial Services Authority offices.
Following the changes announced last week, the Times of Malta sought clarification from the newly established roads agency overseeing the project, Infrastructure Malta.
An agency spokesman said the plan to absorb undeveloped land had been reduced to 47,219 square metres from the original – down by 10,682 square metres, or 18 per cent. He added that the fresh plans included 12 per cent more landscaped area, a 30 per cent increase in pedestrian facilities and five times as much land for cycling infrastructure.
As for the number of trees earmarked for uprooting, no precise figures were given.
The agency limited itself to saying road alignments had been modified such that the two rows of trees between the chapel of Our Lady of Victories and Saqqajja Hill would not be axed.
However, a close inspection of the new plans indicates that about 180 trees will be uprooted in the remaining stretch from Attard to Mrieħel and another 220 have now been earmarked for transplanting.
In its reply, the agency reiterated that the project would reduce travelling times by half and result in significantly lower toxic emissions. Yet no comments were made on the concerns raised by Attard residents that the proximity of the new bypass to their properties would expose them to more fumes and particulate matter.
The spokesman noted the decision to forge ahead had been based on studies which concluded the current plan was the most feasible after considering alternatives like multilevel intersections and tunnels.
The studies also confirmed that if the project were not implemented, air pollution from vehicle emissions in the Birkirkara, Balzan and Attard areas would treble within a few years.
A request to have a copy of the studies was refused for the second time, with the agency spokesman saying they were yet to be submitted to the authorities as part of the permit procedures.
The Planning Authority has still to decide on the project, and the public consultation period has just been launched.