Park and ride expected to cost no more than 60c

The Malta Environment and Planning Authority yesterday transferred close to Lm270,000 to the Malta Transport Authority (ADT) to help finance the cost of the Park and Ride scheme for Valletta and Floriana.

The funds were made available through the commuted payment parking scheme (CPPS).

The Park and Ride at Horns Works and Crowns Works, which will create 950 parking spaces, is scheduled to start functioning in March next year.

The parking facility will be complemented by an electric mini-bus shuttle service to and from Valletta operating every five minutes.

Since this was to be the farthest car park from Valletta, it would also be the cheapest, Urban Development and Roads Minister Jesmond Mugliett said. The fare for parking up to a whole day, together with the shuttle service, should not cost more than 60c.

Environment Minister George Pullicino said the government's strategy focused on creating a better environment for residents and users of Valletta and Floriana.

While the system would facilitate the free movement of residents and those entering the capital in their private car for short periods, it would penalise those who parked in Valletta for longer periods.

This, he said, should ease the parking and congestion problems in the Valletta area and in the roads leading to problem areas.

"It is calculated that a wider project controlling car access to Valletta and Floriana, of which the Park and Ride will form part, will result in a 25 per cent drop in traffic passing through areas such as Msida and Marsa.

"A drop of 38 per cent in traffic is expected in St Anne Street, Floriana at peak times resulting in about 5,000 cars less between 7 and 9 a.m."

Mepa chairman Andrew Calleja said the transfer of funds brought together many aspects of Mepa's work - the administration of funds, the approval of an urban planning project and the resulting positive impact on the environment resulting from less fumes for residents of Floriana and Valletta.

The transfer also directly fulfilled this year's theme for World Environment Day: Greener Cities - Planning For The Future.

Mr Calleja said that through the CPPS, new buildings which did not provide an adequate number of parking spaces corresponding to their size were asked to pay a certain amount for each parking place that was missing.

There was currently about Lm2.8 million in this fund and the money being transferred for the Park and Ride was from projects undertaken in Valletta and Floriana.

"The Park and Ride Scheme is deemed essential in the development of a strategy to decrease traffic in Valletta and Floriana. This strategy was formulated by the committee for national projects.

"The resulting space will greatly benefit the pedestrians and the shop owners both in terms of increased space and also in terms of better safety. This is because pavements which up to now have been occupied by cars will be freed for public use."

He said that the implementation of the scheme would mean the completion of 75 per cent of the Crowns Works and Horns Works Development Brief, issued in 2001 and confirmed later in the Grand Harbour local plan.

Mr Mugliett said that work was to start next week on two junctions: near the Blata l-Bajda Museum, where the bridge is to be widened by another carriageway to become two-way, and near the Peugeot showroom, where traffic lights would direct drivers to the Park and Ride Scheme area.