Cyclists are calling for safer commute in the Luqa and airport area, particularly the Kirkop tunnels and Vjal l-Avjazzjoni.

Unlike other tunnels in Malta, the one at Kirkop is considered to be a vital link by cyclists due to a lack of alternative routes. Sharing the road with cars in tunnels is illegal in Malta, forcing cyclists to use the pavement while giving way to pedestrians.

Doing so in the Kirkop tunnel was especially nerve-wracking for cyclists because the footpath consisted of slabs that cave in at different parts from time to time. While repairs have been carried out over the years, the safety hazard remains, a spokesman for the Bicycle Advocacy Group told the Times of Malta.

Roads in the tunnels were resurfaced last year, however, pedestrians and cyclists seemed to have been forgotten, he said, adding that, for cyclists, commuting through the Kirkop tunnels was like pedalling on a ladder.

The Kirkop tunnel as the Bicycle Advocacy Group would like it.

The BAG believes there is space for safe cycling infrastructure by removing one of the two pavements running through each tunnel, shifting traffic lanes and building a wide separate path on the left with a pedestrian and cycling lane.

Cyclists who frequent the area and commute all the way to Ħal Farruġ welcomed the news that the widening of Triq Ħal Qormi, in Luqa will include a 1.2-kilometre-long segregated two-way cycling path. However, the spokesman pointed out, part of the northern end of the path would be linked to the service road, meaning cyclists going in both directions would have to share the narrow road with drivers, making it quite unsafe for the former. The only other option for cyclists was to brave the main dual-carriageway, he remarked.

Also, further up and closer to the airport, the shared pedestrian and cycle path in Vjal l-Avjazzjoni was removed last summer to make way for a third car lane, leaving space for a narrow sidewalk and a very narrow on-street, one-way cycle lane, the spokesman recalled.

BAG believes it would be better for the third car lane to revert back to a pavement, with room for a two-way cycle path continuing into the new slip-lane at the airport roundabout and along the other new third lane just outside the McDonald’s outlet. Slip-lanes are a grave unnecessary hazard for people on two wheels, according to BAG.

This cycle path could be integrated with the proposed Triq Ħal Qormi project, providing a safe cycle link to the new ITS faculty that was frequented by many students and workers and a link to Skyparks and the airport, the spokesman said.