Residents of St Paul Street in Valletta have resigned themselves to dealing with next week’s closure of the lower half of the road as best they can.
The Valletta local council last week bowed to pressure from the business community and residents and postponed half the project. The upper half of the road works have been pushed back by a year.
Roadworks will start on Monday on the bottom half of the road because the lower part of St Paul Street intersects with other roads the council is planning to resurface, such as Nicholas and Old Hospital streets.
The job will be divided into two phases, the first one between Hospital and St Dominic streets and the second phase between St Dominic and Archbishop streets.
Work on the lower part of the long street is expected to take about 10 weeks to complete. The project includes cleaning rainwater culverts, laying new water mains, paving, installing services and resurfacing the road.
Most of the residents approached yesterday said that although the closure was an inconvenience they felt it was high time works were carried out.
“I’ve been asking council to do something for five years,” one resident said. “It’s an inconvenience but it’s necessary.”
Another resident, Francis Lapira, agreed. “There’s nothing that can be done if that’s what has been decided but, at the same time, the road is in need of some attention.”
The main concern of the residents, many of whom are elderly, is how they will be reached by an ambulance in case of an emergency.
“Last year I broke my wrist,” said Antoinette Giglio, who is also worried that her three children would struggle to find a place to park in Valletta when visiting her.
“On the other hand, I don’t own a shop and am able to walk, so it’s not so much of a problem,” she added.
Mary Cassar, who takes care of her 84-year-old mother, was particularly angry about what she believed would result in limited ambulance access. “I don’t agree with the road works,” she said. “My mother can barely walk so she can’t leave the house without help. She also suffers from dementia.
“What will happen if she needs an ambulance?”