All seven flyovers of the Marsa Junction Project are now open to road users, Infrastructure Malta said on Saturday, with three flyovers first completed in 2019 switched to their intended function.
The three flyovers were being used to carry southbound traffic as a temporary diversion route over the past 14 months but were switched to their intended northbound direction on Saturday morning.
These three flyovers now form direct, two-lane connections from the northbound carriageway of Santa Lucija Avenue and the northbound carriageway of Giuseppe Garibaldi Road (Luqa) towards Aldo Moro Road, Marsa, in the direction of Santa Venera, Qormi, Hamrun, Valletta and other localities in central Malta.
Workers reopened the flyovers after completing final works on the structures, including adding a topmost layer of asphalt to their road surfaces and expansion joints.
Three other flyovers which serve southbound traffic to connect Aldo Moro Road’s southbound carriageway with Santa Lucija Avenue and Garibaldi Road, towards Santa Lucija, Tarxien, Luqa, Gudja and other destinations were completed last month.
A seventh flyover which links the northbound carriageway of Santa Lucija Avenue with new lanes to the Addolorata Cemetery and a new park and ride that is still under construction and with Il-Gvern Lokali Road, towards Qormi (Turkish Cemetery area) is also functional.
Focus will now switch to the last stretch of the road project’s new lanes, which will connect the southbound carriageway of Aldo Moro Road with Sir Paul Boffa Avenue, towards Corradino, Paola and Cottonera. Works on this stage will be ready by the end of the year.
Photo: Infrastructure MaltaNew footpaths and pedestrian bridges, bus lanes, bus lay-bys, park and ride areas and segregated cycling tracks are also in their final stages, Infrastructure Malta has said. The new walking and cycling track connecting Paola, Tarxien and Santa Lucija with the Marsa Sports Grounds area of Marsa will be open within a few weeks.
Work on the massive €70 million project to replace Malta’s busiest traffic intersection with a series of flyovers allowing traffic to flow uninterrupted began in late 2017.
Apart from the roadworks, Infrastructure Malta has committed to landscaping the area with hundreds of trees and four public art installations, as well as building underground reservoirs which can harvest more than 1.5 million litres of rainwater.
The Marsa Junction Project is co-financed through the European Union’s Cohesion Fund and the Connecting Europe Facility.