Cyclists have raised safety concerns over a bicycle lane on the new Aldo Moro Road, in Marsa, which they say is constantly being intruded upon by cars driving at high speed and putting their lives at risk.

The new six-lane northbound road was completed late last year as part of the broader €70-million upgrade of the Marsa junction and includes an unsegregated bicycle lane.

Vehicles have been frequently observed using the cycle lane as an additional lane.Vehicles have been frequently observed using the cycle lane as an additional lane.

However, cyclists from the Bicycle Advocacy Group (BAG) told the Times of Malta the lane was regularly used by motor vehicles –often driving at significant speed along the arterial road – both as an additional lane and as a hard shoulder, with enforcement “nowhere to be seen”.

Photographs and videos taken by the lobby group show the cycle lane being freely used by private vehicles and public buses.

“The Marsa road is an important link between south and north and the authorities have a responsibility to providing safe access for all road users,” BAG policy officer Matthew Farrugia said.

“The current designs leave much to be desired. For cyclists from the north to access the cycle lane, they have to ride over the bridge and then go to the opposite direction of traffic. If there is no segregation and cars freely use it, we are going to have accidents,” he warned.

Mr Farrugia called for effective enforcement and for the lane to be segregated to ensure cyclists’ safety.

“The people designing these lanes are clearly not cyclists. We have said that if they are confident in their designs they should use the lanes themselves; if it’s not safe for them, it’s not safe for others,” he said.

Infrastructure Malta, the government agency handling the works, did not respond to a request for comment.

Works on the Marsa junction, which sees 100,000 vehicles pass through every day, are in their third phase. The first two of seven planned flyovers are expected to be up and running by the summer, with the entire project scheduled for completion in 2020.

The final stage of the project will include the addition of 1.6 kilometres of new footpaths and cycle lanes as well as three pedestrian bridges, four new bus laybys and new bus lanes, according to the authorities.

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