Strips of land outside the development zone along a four-kilometre long route from Ta’ Qali to Mrieħel will have to be sacrificed for a road widening project, a matter of “concern” for the Environment Authority.

The project, which has not yet been approved by the Planning Authority, involves the construction of a bypass on the outskirts of Attard, the widening of Mdina Road, junction alterations and a new traffic management plan.

The plans first came to light last October in a string of newspaper adverts in which Transport Malta gave notice to land owners affected by the proposed project. The objective is to eliminate the notorious bottleneck at Triq in- Zarb, Attard.

Though very little details were divulged at that stage, both the Transport Ministry and the regulator had insisted that “all plans are contained within land scheduled for development”, giving the impression that no ODZ land would be involved.

The assurance was made in a joint reply to Times of Malta, which had enquired about the amount of agricultural land that would be affected by the project.

All plans are contained within land scheduled for development

Three months down the line, it now emerged that the plans drew criticism from the Environment and Resources Authority on precisely the same grounds the government had appeared to be playing down.

In a submission last month, the ERA expressed “concern” that the proposed development involved “extensive stretches of land primarily arable”, which were “predominantly” located in ODZ areas.

For this reason, Transport Malta, which is spearheading the project, has been asked to present what is known as project description statement. More details were also sought on how the works would affect protected trees directly affected by the works.

The issue was recently raised in Parliament by Nationalist MP Toni Bezzina who asked Transport Minister Ian Borg whether the project would result in the loss of 135,000 square metres of agricultural land.

Rejecting the figure mentioned, Dr Borg, however, did not guarantee that no virgin land would be affected.

The project in detail

The project is more extensive than initially taught, according to Transport Malta plans, which were not available on the Planning Authority’s website when the issue first cropped up.

Last October, when details were still sketchy, it seemed the project consisted in the widening of a number of residential roads on the outskirts of Attard to form a 1.3 kilometre long bypass linking the entrance of Wied Inċita to the lower part of Mdina Road, further up from the Mrieħel bypass.

All the roads mentioned in the newspaper adverts meant to alert affected land owners (Triq Oliver Agius, Triq Ferdinandu Inglott, Triq Tumas Chetcuti and Triq Hannibal) are located in the same area. However, according to the plans submitted by Transport Malta, the project will span between the outskirts of Ta’ Qali and the Mrieħel bypass exit in front of the Malta Financial Services Authority’s offices.

Traffic heading from Mrieħel to Rabat will be diverted to the new bypass while vehicles travelling in the opposite direction, heading towards Valletta, will be re-routed through Triq iż-Żagħfran. The notorious bottleneck in Triq in- Zarb will thus be eliminated.

The plan will comprise the widening of Mdina Road, from the Wied Inċita exit all the way up to the Saqqajja Hill roundabout. This expansion is being sought to have an additional lane for Rabat-bound traffic.

The project will also involve a radical change in traffic management in the Mrieħel area, which will result in the elimination of the traffic lights near the MFSA building and those at the exit of Vjal De Paule, a short distance away from San Anton Gardens.

Instead, Transport Malta is proposing to link Triq l-Imdina and the Mrieħel bypass by means of a roundabout. However, to minimise congestion, there will be two dedicated lanes so that Attard-bound traffic coming from Mrieħel bypass will not have to enter the roundabout. Similarly, there will be a segregated lane for traffic coming from Attard heading towards Santa Venera along the Wignacourt Aqueduct.

Access to Vjal de Paule for traffic coming from Mrieħel will be shifted further towards Attard through a dedicated slip road.