Zebra crossing in Msida made safer

The zebra crossing in October 5 Square, Msida, has been shifted by 50 metres to reduce the danger faced by pedestrians each time they try to cross the busy junction.

Msida mayor Carmelo Grima said the crossing had become hazardous and there had been a number of accidents.

Pedestrians' vision of the road was often hampered by buses picking up or disembarking passengers at the bus stop, placed just before the pedestrian crossing, while cars never allowed them to complete their crossing and sped past before pedestrians got to the other end.

Meanwhile, cars coming from the flyover had to juggle between ensuring they crossed safely across three lanes to turn up Rue D'Argens without crashing or running someone over.

Although the new zebra crossing was moved over a week ago, a few pedestrians are still reluctant to use it, preferring to cross at its original location where the old zebra crossing has now been painted over in black.

Dr Grima said the council was planning a safety awareness campaign.

The decision for the shift was taken together with the Transport Authority's traffic management directorate.

Authority spokesman Daniela Borg Mizzi said the shift made the new crossing much safer because a considerable amount of traffic would have already filtered into Rue D'Argens by the time it reached the new location.

The authority was fully aware of the saturation of traffic at this busy junction and was currently working on upgrading the area.