The main road linking the north to the south of Malta was slammed by gridlock traffic on Tuesday, as motorists blamed the gaming conference Sigma for the jam. 

The Maltese Road Traffic Updates Facebook page reported very heavy traffic on the roads leading to Marsa, where the Sigma conference is being held at the Mediterranean Maritime Hub for the second consecutive year. 

Triq Dicembru 13 is reportedly jammed from Blata l-Bajda, while traffic along Triq Mikiel Anton Vassalli starts from the Kappara flyover, continuing all the way down to Marsa. 

Surrounding roads such as the Mrieħel bypass and parts of the Birkirkara bypass were also reportedly jammed as well.

Photo: Matthew Mirabelli

Several motorists also took to social media to express their frustration at being stuck in traffic. 

Author Lara Calleja reported that a planned 15-minute journey had taken her an hour and 15 minutes to complete on Tuesday. 

Lara Calleja was left fuming after her 15 minute trip turned into an hour and a quarter commute.

Last week Transport Malta announced it was introducing new traffic management measures for the event after it had similarly caused gridlock last year, even delaying MPs from arriving to parliament. 

This included introducing designated pick-up and drop-off point at different areas and enforcing geofencing around the area in a bid to prevent the event from causing traffic. 

Some dark humour amid the traffic delays. Photo: Facebook

A police spokesperson said that there were no other reported collisions or issues on the road that may have contributed to the traffic at time of writing. 

Photo: Matthew Mirabelli