Updated 5.35pm, adds Infrastructure Malta's reaction

Siġġiewi residents are venting frustration over “traffic chaos” caused by works on the main road leading into the locality, with many saying they were not informed about this major closure. 

Commenting on social media many residents expressed their anger after both lanes of Triq Siġġiewi, known as il-benniena (the cradle), were closed off on Monday morning.

“Siġġiewi is a whole mess right now, a place to avoid at all costs,” one resident wrote on Facebook while another said: “everywhere is a disaster… no planning”.

Patience levels dropped further as motorists who tried to use alternative routes were faced with work on other roads.

Resident David Farrugia, who is also an administrator of the Facebook page Siġġiewi - Citta Ferdinand, said many were frustrated because the closure was not communicated to them.

Farrugia said Infrastructure Malta had informed him about the works last week and he had put up a post on social media.

But despite residents being told that one lane would remain open to traffic, both were eventually closed,  blocking the main road leading to the locality.

“They should have communicated this better. There is the assumption that everyone uses social media, but it's not the case.

"Buses could not pass and shuttles were organised instead, however, this was not communicated well, leaving people waiting for the bus for hours," he said adding that while things were better on Tuesday, people were worried about what will happen when schools resume after midterm holidays on Wednesday. 

'Total road closure for safety reasons'

Mayor Dominic Grech meanwhile said IM had informed the council about the need to carry out emergency works four days ago. Initially, it was believed that one lane could remain open but both lanes had been closed due to health and safety reasons. This way works could also be completed in the shortest timeframe possible, he said.

Grech added that the works, which included drainage services maintenance, the repairing of manholes and resurfacing, should be completed "in a few days”.

He said the council was working to sort out traffic management problems.

'Works carried out without any consultation'

However, PN local councillor Alessia Psaila Zammit - minority leader at the Siġġiewi local council - said the works were carried out without any consultation with local councillors.

“As councillors, we have been requesting information and reminding the mayor that it is his duty to ensure any works in Siġġiewi are done without causing unnecessary traffic chaos. Unfortunately, the mayor has failed to represent effectively Siġġiewi residents,” she said.

PN electoral candidate and former  Siġġiewi deputy mayor Ryan Callus said on Tuesday Minister Ian Borg promised him that proposals to phase the works would be considered. 

Road unsafe to be kept open during works - Infrastructure Malta

Infrastructure Malta said that no maintenance works had been done on the road since it was built in the nineties.

IM was digging up and rebuilding maintenance holes for various underground networks, some of which had caved in. It is also consolidating the carriageway’s foundation layers to fix surface depressions and rutting.

Workers will then remove the existing asphalt and lay a new surface with higher quality polymer-modified asphalt, which the agency introduced in Malta’s arterial roads two years ago.

Infrastructure Malta said it scheduled these maintenance works to start during the Carnival holidays, to reduce difficulties to road users.

Works are in progress day and night to finish this upgrade by the end of next week. Due to the location of the damaged maintenance holes in the middle of the two-lane carriageway, the road cannot be kept open safely during works, it said.

The agency said it had planned the works in consultation with the Siġġiewi council and several other entities, including Malta Public Transport and Transport Malta.

IM and the council shared social media notifications several days before the commencement of works, to provide details of the applicable diversions and alternative routes.

These were widely shared among Siġġiewi residents and other road users before works started. Updates on the ongoing works will continue to be shared on social media in the coming days, it said.

Infrastructure Malta and the council also organised a shuttle bus service for public transport passengers travelling between Siġġiewi and Żebbuġ, and on to other destinations through the scheduled bus routes. The agency is also in talks with school transport providers and alternative routes for school buses were identified.

Transport Malta officers are stationed at several junctions leading to Siġġiewi to facilitate traffic flows and assist road users in difficulty, it said.