Updated 5pm - Added PN statement
A decision to narrow part of the Mellieħa bypass to make way for a road meant to serve a massive private development has been shelved, Transport Minister Ian Borg said on Thursday.
In a Facebook post, the minister said the decision was shelved as residents’ and users’ concerns were taken into consideration.
Concerns about plans to narrow part of the road from four to three lanes were raised in parliament earlier this week, with Dr Borg telling Opposition MP Robert Cutajar that the plans were part of Ta' Masrija planning policy review approved three years ago.
The minister had told MPs that the narrowing would address an "anomaly" and also help reduce speeding offences on the bypass.
READ: Part of Mellieħa bypass will be narrowed from four to three lanes
But those concerns subsequently took a back seat to locals' outrage, with a Times of Malta article highlighting the issue generating plenty of traffic.
On Thursday - one day after the article was uploaded - Dr Borg announced that a new plan had been drafted which would ensure the bypass remained a four-lane road, with a cycling lane also included.
Dr Borg said that the decision to narrow the bypass had been made by the pre-2013 Nationalist administration and the Transport Minister of the time, Austin Gatt.
He said PN MP Robert Cutajar - a former Mellieħa mayor who raised the issue in parliament this week - could be assured that this government would not steamroll over residents' concerns, as previous ones had sone.
Whichever current or past plans needed to be revised for better results to be obtained, would be revised, he promised.
The minister added that such challenges and difficulties were an opportunity to work better and acquire better value for the unprecedented investment being carried out in the country’s infrastructure.
'Our pressure did it' - PN
In a statement, the Nationalist Party said that the minister had been forced to change tack following pressure from its MP Mr Cutajar, Mellieħa councillors and residents who had signed an online petition.
"The PN Mellieħa committee calls on the government and PL councillors in the town not to take decisions that run counter to residents' interests," the PN said.