Workers wrapped up the second phase of the Marsa junction project, which saw the completion of 10 lanes, kicking off the third phase which entails the building of seven flyovers.

The €70 million project will improve essential infrastructure in an area that sees around 8,000 vehicles an hour every day, according to the Transport Ministry.

In total, the second phase of this project included three kilometres of new or rebuilt lanes, six kilometres of trenches for water, electricity and telecommunication services, 1.2 kilometres of walk-through service culverts for high voltage cables, 1.7 kilometres of rain water catchment system pipes and 400 metres of cycle lanes that will further increase during the third phase.

Photo: DOI - Clifton Fenech

This second phase included the rebuilding of Triq il-Gvern Lokali and Triq Ġużè Gatt, as well as the widening and rebuilding of Triq Aldo Moro which now has 10 lanes.

Read: Most traffic lanes, junctions of Marsa-St Venera project to open next week

It was completed on Thursday night when Infrastructure Malta applied the final layer of asphalt to the northbound Aldo Moro carriageway.

Transport Minister Ian Borg, who visited the site early on Friday, said that during the night, around 30 workers used six pavers to surface the entire carriageway with around 800 tons of asphalt manufactured in three different plants.

Apart from several layers of hard materials in the foundations beneath the surface, layers of geotextile and geogrid were also placed to prolong the road’s lifetime by limiting potential damage caused by rainwater.

Photo: DOI - Clifton Fenech

Signage and road markings on the new lanes will be completed in the coming days.

Infrastructure Malta has kicked off preparations to start the third phase in the coming weeks. This will include the building of a seven flyovers structure that will replace the traffic lights junction near the Addolorata Cemetery.

These preparations include a number of temporary lanes instead of the old factories between Triq Aldo Moro and Triq il-Labour.

Work on these lanes is taking place at a fast pace so that in the coming weeks they can be used instead of existing lanes in the direction to Paola.

The Marsa junction project is co-financed by the Connecting Europe Facility of the European Union.