A bridge for the few

Francis Sammut (‘A bridge too far’, November 11) referred to the €2.3m spent on the bridge in Aviation Avenue, Luqa. Its positioning midway between two main roundabouts made using it as a cycling bridge pretty redundant. Why go all that way and not just across the roundabout? Nobody was building infrastructure to save cyclists 12 minutes a week. So, it was a bridge too far.

However, at the time it was useful for bus users, ITS students etc... and billed as a cycling bridge the ramps did help riders cross it, unlike the hopelessly unreliable Marsa and Mrieħel bridges. So, it was one of the few that remained usable, even if the ramps were tight, steep and unsuited to cargo bikes etc... After all, what use is a bridge if you cannot cross it?

Building the Luqa flyover.

The fact that it was out of bounds during fresh construction work may explain its lack of care and I suspect its lifts never worked since. Clearly, the ERDF funds, which, incidentally, covered 85% of the scheme, clock should have stopped for the time it was out of service and, thus, fulfil its ERDF five-year obligation.

Unfortunately, lack of forward thinking or simply building piecemeal meant that when the ‘new’ Luqa and airport junctions were built, with connections that negated the need to reach the €2.3m bridge, it has become a bit of a white elephant.

To accommodate so few users it was actually far easier to have kept the lighted crossings, that stopped traffic for 12 seconds, a couple of times a day (ditto the Mrieħel bridge) than build a bridge or a subway that takes a lot longer for foot or wheeled users to cross.

All these points and many more were raised prior to its construction and were ignored.

One little known feature is that, if you turn Strava or some other tracking app on and off at the right time, its spiral ramps and one of the roundabouts can be used to draw a large phallic symbol on Google maps, which just about sums it up.

Jim Wightman – St Julian’s

On the buses

The constant traffic pandemic on our roads is made worse by the disorganisation of the buses system.

Three buses go through Notabile Road, Attard. Why does one have to wait for over half an hour for a bus and then two buses arrive at the same time? It happens also the other way round going to Rabat.

There is no coordination.

The low spending tourists who spend their holiday on a shoestring budget are flocking to Malta. Obviously, they use the cheaper mode of transport, that is the buses. When their destination is Mdina, they fill up the buses to the local residents’ dismay who have to wait for a next bus to pick them up.

To compound the issue, low-paid migrants also flood the buses.

The drivers try to pack as many passengers as possible in the bus and everyone is squeezed like sardines. In the good old days of the charabancs, only eight persons standing up were allowed. At this time of year, with such tightly packed buses, the risk of the spread of flu increases exponentially.

The obvious solution is to increase the number of buses and encourage teleworking, which would also benefit the chaos on our roads.

Victor Farrugia – Attard