Parliament to debate motion on dangerous road in Żejtun

A motion for an inquiry into the transport authority's delay in implementing road safety measures along Żejtun's dangerous Anton Buttigieg Street will be debated in the House of Representatives tomorrow.

Last September, Labour MP Helena Dalli presented the motion calling on the government to launch an inquiry given that the transport authority's plans for the road were approved more than a year ago but were not yet implemented.

Dr Dalli, Labour spokesman for public investment, questioned who was responsible for the delay.

She presented the motion after the Żejtun arterial road claimed the life of a young family of three in August. The victims were Jonathan Seychell and his girlfriend Roxana D'Anastasi, both 20, and their three-year-old daughter Kelsey.

They were driving along the road, heading towards Marsascala, when Mr Seychell, who was at the wheel, overtook two cars and slammed into a bowser before hitting a wall. The tragedy left four-year-old Lynill D'Anastasi an orphan.

At the time, the Transport Ministry had said traffic calming measures would be installed along Anton Buttigieg Street by the end of 2009, even if, two years earlier, the transport authority had accepted to carry out the works and draw up the plans. These have not yet been fully implemented.

The works were to include the upgrading of two pedestrian crossings to pelican lights, introducing a third pelican crossing, installing better signage such as stop signs, adding road markings and having centre strips and small traffic islands. So far, road markings have been painted along the road that claimed the life of six people in the last decade.

Questions were yesterday sent to the transport authority asking what the cause of the delay was. No replies were received by the time of writing.

After presenting her motion, Dr Dalli had explained that the main causes of accidents along the road in question were speeding and overtaking. Żejtun mayor Joe Attard had explained that the council had been asking the transport authority to take action to make the road safer since 1996.

The main problem was that the road was long, so people stepped on the accelerator. At one point, the road "humped" and this sudden change in level did not allow motorists to see oncoming traffic, he explained.

When it was built, about 25 years ago, the road was an extension of the Għaxaq bypass. But, unlike the bypass, the extension was not equipped with a service road for residents, a centre strip and two lanes on each carriageway. The absence of a centre strip allowed people to overtake, which meant they crossed carriageways with the risk of colliding with oncoming traffic.