A €20 million project that will see 13,000 square metres dedicated as a green area will be completed within three to four years, Environment Minister Jose Herrera announced on Wednesday. 

The project will see the roofing over of a stretch of Regional Road beginning from just after the Santa Venera tunnels and leading up to Triq Misraħ il-Barrieri. The second phase of the project will see the area from the tunnels to Triq il-Blata il-Kaħla also roofed over. 

Preliminary studies into the project have been completed and development applications should be submitted by year's end. 

"Once the project is completed, we will be joining the urban landscape and the residential area - which had been separated because of the Regional Road project - together," the Environment Minister added.

A parking area accommodating around 150 cars will also be built in the area, he said. 

Air filters will also be included in the Sta Venera tunnels to mitigate the levels of vehicle emissions, Dr Herrera said.

The project will be undertaken by the Environment and Transport Ministry.

Pitching the project's benefits, Dr Herrera said property prices in the area would rise once the area had been greened. 

Noise pollution in the area is also set to decrease, he said. 

The Environment Minister said the project could also serve as a blueprint for other areas that required greening. 

Alternattiva Demokratika had welcomed the proposal when it was first announced, however, they warned that adding a roof over Regional Road would not in itself solve problems of excessive car use. 

The government should instead focus on a holistic strategy to reduce the number of cars on roads, it had said.  

Part of the project will roof over the area at Triq Brighella level