Activists on Thursday urged the government to consider a proposal by the Chamber of Architects for an alternative to the controversial Msida Creek Project.

The architects' proposal would see the busy junction transformed into a tree-filled park. 

The Kamra tal-Periti said on Sunday it wanted to ditch the planned flyover and instead transform Msida into a 20,000-square metre park with more than 2,000 trees, claiming it would even improve the traffic flow in the area.

However, work on the Msida Creek project is due to start late next month after the feast of St Joseph.

Infrastructure Malta CEO Ivan Falzon told Times of Malta he had never been approached by the KTP and that "this time it’s too late" for the proposal to be considered. 

On Monday Msida's mayor-elect and PN councillors urged the government to call a meeting over the proposal, and the Chamber of Architects eventually held a meeting with Transport and Infrastructure Minister Chris Bonett and a separate meeting with Infrastructure Malta civil engineers.

On Thursday, Moviment Graffitti, Rota and Friends of the Earth Malta said KTP’s proposal was "just the latest in a string of alternative proposals" that civil society groups have discussed with IM over the past three years.

"Regardless of these discussions, IM appears to have always been determined to proceed with the mega flyovers plans since their inception. [The current plans] will suffocate and further fragment the Msida community in favour of more vehicular traffic."

They said in a statement that projects like the Msida Creek one in its current form committed the country to a future of car-centric transport.

"It is absurd that, while Europe and the rest of the world are dismantling flyovers because they are now recognised as outdated 'solutions' that worsen issues such as respiratory diseases; over-reliance on private cars; heat island effects and high emissions of greenhouse gases - Malta continues to push forward with short-term solutions from the 1950s that have been proven to fail.

"For every major project, IM issues a call for 'consultation' where residents and civil society members have the opportunity to express their concerns and reservations or offer alternatives to their proposals.

"Civil societies have presented in-depth feedback and alternative solutions to this project from the very beginning, but suggestions have always fallen on deaf ears."

They added Falzon's claim that KTP’s proposal was "too late" and "a desperate attempt for media attention" was "a clear refusal" to address the issues.

They insisted the current plan for the Msida Creek encouraged more traffic in the middle of a residential and urban area, going against the government’s €35,000,000 commitment to create a bicycle-commute network in the central region of Malta.