A vehicular underpass from December 13 Road in Marsa to the Menqa area and cruise liner terminal was opened this afternoon by Transport Minister Joe Mizzi in the presence of former EP president Pat Cox.

Mr Cox, who is now the European Coordinator for the Scandinavian Mediterranean Core Network on the new Trans European Transport Network (Ten-T), is in Malta on an official visit.

The €7 million underpass, part of the Ten-T project, is equipped to European standards and includes a computerised system of LEDs to control the level of light according to the time of day. The project was funded by the EU to the tune of 85 per cent.

Mr Mizzi gave details of other projects taking place on Maltese roads including on Triq Aldo Moro.

The Marsa to Valletta direction, he said, had been reinstated to four lanes, while works on the other side of the main road were continuing. To temporarily alleviate the traffic problems in the area, traffic was, for the last months, passing through an alternative road. More permanent solutions had to be found.

The minister said that work was to start soon on the Coast Road and the Kappara Junction.

Mr Cox, who is Irish, said it mattered to him that Europe’s periphery was brought close to its heart.

He said that his office would ensure that when the call for proposals was issued between later this year and early next year, Malta would be able to draw significant co-funding of up to 85 per cent for its Ten-T projects.

The Ten-T Scandinavian-Mediterranean Corridor is a multimodal corridor linking the major urban centres in Scandinavia to the Mediterranean passing through Finland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Germany, Austria, Italy and Malta.