A project to turn Floriana into a garden city is gathering dust as the Environment Ministry fails to give updates on studies it commissioned into its viability, leaving its promoters frustrated.
The architectural firm behind the project has, meanwhile, continued to push for it “because we truly believe in it”, providing fresh visuals of different views for “a better idea of the feeling of having a green path” along St Anne Street.
The project was first proposed by Floriana-based DHI Periti back in 2014 and involves the removal of vehicular traffic from the town’s avenue through an underground tunnel that would free the surface for landscaping to create a recreational area.
“We continue to push as it has never been denied by the government. It has also been greatly endorsed, together with promises – although for some people, promises stops there,” said Ian Camilleri Cassar, the lead architect among the project’s four.
“Over these long years, not once have we had any negative feedback; neither from the public, nor from political parties,” he said about the motivation to keep going.
Traffic is no obstacle
The standard question revolves around the traffic, which will, of course, be affected and diverted, Camilleri Cassar said. But he believes there are always solutions to everything.
“If the traffic is the problem, this should not be a stumbling block,” he said, adding that “we are moving towards green transportation but, at the same time, we are scared of change” and insisting on adaptation.
“If our new roads would have been constructed mainly for bicycle lanes rather than cars, then people would have adapted.”
According to the proposal, cars would drive down into the tunnel at the Lion Fountain and re-emerge just before the roundabout leading to Valletta, while Pope John Paul II Square would also be regenerated.
“It can do nothing but enhance Floriana and our noble capital city,” Camilleri Cassar insisted.
The project could also change the way people commute to Valletta, he continued, questioning the use of a car for those who have a nine-to-five job.
“We are working to change the cruise liner system to be on the grid, which is a huge upgrade. Imagine also creating a form of transport that would direct you to St Anne Street,” he said, pointing to an increase in commercial activity, apart from the injection of new social life into Floriana.
While contributing to its economic growth and value, the project would enhance the town’s experience, spurring the regeneration of the existing buildings and creating another tourist centre.
Paris paved the way
Plans to transform the Champs-Élysées, Paris’s famed avenue, into an “extraordinary garden” had given renewed impetus to the similar proposal for a much shorter St Anne Street by the architects, who had criticised Malta’s “lack of vision” when it seemed the French capital would pip the project to the post.
The green-lighted Paris plan had reignited interest and hope in the possibility of transforming Floriana into a green urban project, converting St Anne Street into an attractive hub by addressing the heavy congestion and pollution it generated.
The regeneration of the busy road into a public green area through a sustainable approach that would improve traffic circulation around Floriana continued to build on government policies and could be a trendsetter for other localities, Camilleri Cassar has always maintained.
Venting his frustration, he now asked: “Don’t the Maltese deserve a new green space; an arterial road transformed into a park? Why does it always have to take years, while these projects are undertaken by other countries?”
Malta was investing millions in roads for private cars, while other countries were investing millions to remove them, he said.
Not on the backburner?
Last January, the Environment Ministry had said the Floriana ‘garden city’ was being considered in geotechnical studies, which investigate the stability and safety of any excavation work, and that the next step depended on these conclusions.
Environment Minister Aaron Farrugia had said that, in theory, such projects were in line with his vision for greening urban areas.
His keen interest in the pedestrianisation of the main artery in and out of Valletta had already been expressed in a meeting with the architects a year-and-a-half ago.
In January, he had reiterated this interest, saying the project was “not on the backburner” and that, otherwise, the studies would not have kicked off.
But the call for tenders for the geotechnical surveys, the results of which were meant to determine whether the St Anne Street project would go ahead, closed eight months ago.
No answers were forthcoming on the outcome, whether the studies were conducted and, if so, their conclusions, leaving the project that has consistently generated public interest on the shelf.