Attard’s local council has come out against a major road building project planned for the town, saying that it goes against the government’s own transportation policies.

In a motion passed on Monday, councillors said that while traffic problems were real, the government had not exhausted all its other options to cut congestion
before deciding to push the Central Link project forward.

The €55 million project will involve building new roads and widening existing ones, with various junctions removed and roads reconfigured.

Councillors, however, fear the environmental impact that building new roads will entail, with agricultural land swallowed up.

READ: Traffic Impact Assessment not needed for Central Link, minister says

In their motion, councillors noted that the government’s Strategic Plan for Environment and Development and its own Transport Master Plan called for modal shifts in transportation and a high priority given to improving public transport services.

Talk of the proposed project leading to a reduction in emissions would be rendered obsolete, the council said, once petrol and and diesel cars were phased out as the government has hinted would eventually happen, the council said.

The town’s council urged the government to revise the Central Link project, to make a greater emphasis on encouraging a modal shift in transportation and to implement proposals made by the Attard Residents Environmental Network.