The powers that be may think a recreational area under a flyover is a grand idea but when you sit back and reflect in a calm, rational way, this, like much of the Msida scheme, starts becoming very frayed at the edges.

The scheme aspires to rid us of just two of the four traffic lights and crossings, with the aim of speeding drivers into the next queue that will undoubtedly form at Sa Maison but fails totally to consider the humble commuter on foot, using a bus or a bicycle. That is important if you want to keep them doing what they do and not switching back to driving.

Does Transport Malta or Infrastructure Malta have figures on the number of pedestrians who cross daily, who already queue at the existing crossings for a few minutes compared to a driver’s few seconds waiting for the light to change. Can they give us accurate figures? Have any studies been carried out and should these not have been published?

Importantly, how will this compare to the throughput of foot commuters across the bridges? How many lift trips will be required in comparison? How many commuters will fit in each lift and how many lifts will be there? Clearly one four-person lift, as is the case in Mrieħel, would not cope. And what happens when a cyclist turns up? After all, as Transport Malta must know from its own studies and big data like Strava, Msida is a hub for 40 per cent of daily cyclists and another 42 per cent who use it occasionally.

These are important questions for thousands of pedestrians, bus passengers making interchanges and people on bikes, for whom Msida is a hub not just somewhere to drive through. Bringing a flyover to Msida will be no walk in the park.

 

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