Birguma bypass needs barrier

One of the busiest thoroughfares on the island must be the newly opened Birguma bypass, which took such a long time to finish yet is still not complete.

Much still needs to be done to being the road up to modern safety standards.

Undoubtedly the most dangerous part of this road is the entrance from both directions to Gharghur, which incidentally is just opposite my residence. I cannot understand what degree of safety was in the minds of those who planned this road. Collisions here occur every day and on both sides of the road. In one such accident (on November 10) one of the cars involved crossed the centre strip and ended up in the service road opposite.

When the road was being built up we were constantly being promised by the architects that we were going to have a crash barrier all along the bypass, but to everyone's disbelief, the roads department decided that this was not needed. On what grounds?, may I ask.

I called the architect responsible for the road, and stressed to him the importance of such a barrier.

To add insult to injury his reply was that he was unable to do anything about it. The government is boasting about upgrading the safety and standards of our road network, so why is it ignoring our plea to safeguard us from such dangers?

If the barrier is not erected along the whole bypass, at least it should be set up in the most dangerous part, which we feel is the entrance to Gharghur.

At least a 300-metre barrier is badly needed opposite the entrance, separating the service road from the bypass in both directions. I know that Minister Mugliett was in the area some weeks ago, and I hope that this problem was raised by some residents.