Existing lanes will be closed, new ones opened and traffic lights shifted at the Marsa junction in the coming days as Infrastructure Malta prepares to start work on building flyovers at the site.

The third phase of the €70 million project will soon get under way,  with two flyovers including bridges to link Triq Aldo Moro and Triq Garibaldi the first in line to be built.

To prepare for those works and clear space for the flyovers’ pillars, Malta’s infrastructural agency will be opening up temporary lanes and closing some existing ones, as well as moving traffic lights.

The changes, which will remain in place for “several months”, are as follows:

The main changes in the southbound direction (from Marsa to Paola) include:

• Marsa to Corradino: The southern section of the southbound carriageway of Triq Aldo Moro (next to the former Malta Shipbuilding site) will be narrowed from four to two lanes, which will lead to Vjal Sir Paul Boffa only, towards Corradino, Paola and the Three Cities.
  
  
• Marsa to Santa Lucija, Airport, Qormi: Two new temporary lanes opening up to four lanes will connect the southbound carriageway of Triq Aldo Moro to Vjal Santa Lucija (towards the Santa Lucija roundabout and Triq tal-Barrani), Triq Garibaldi (towards Luqa, Gudja and the Airport) and Triq il-Gvern Lokali (Government Printing Press) towards Triq il-Marsa (Turkish Cemetery) to get to Qormi. These temporary lanes are being built within the site of the two old factories demolished as part of the first phase of the project.
  
  
• New lanes to Airport, Qormi: Another two temporary lanes are being set up within the grounds of the parking area next to the Addolorata Cemetery, to connect the northbound and southbound carriageways of Vjal Santa Lucija with Triq Garibaldi (towards Luqa, Gudja and the Airport) and Triq il-Gvern Lokali (towards Triq il-Marsa, the Turkish Cemetery area and on to Qormi). Road users travelling southbound from Triq Aldo Moro will need to head towards Vjal Santa Lucija and use these new temporary lanes to get to Triq Garibaldi or Triq il-Gvern Lokali.    

In the northbound direction (from Corradino and Santa Lucija towards Marsa), road users will continue using the same lanes, but some changes will apply:             

• New traffic lights: New temporary traffic lights are being set up in Vjal Santa Lucija’s northbound carriageway, next to the entrance of the Addolorata Cemetery. They will replace the existing ones at the Marsa Junction crossroads.
  
  
• Santa Lucija, Corradino to Qormi: Road users travelling from the south of Malta towards Qormi through Triq il-Gvern Lokali (Government Printing Press) and Triq il-Marsa (Turkish Cemetery area) will need to take the new temporary lanes within the parking area next to the Addolorata Cemetery, by turning left as soon as they drive through the new traffic lights in the same area.  

The changes will be implemented this coming week, after which Infrastructure Malta will cordon off the area closed off and begin the project’s third phase.

Motorists are advised to drive carefully and follow road signs put up along the routes as they grow accustomed to the lane changes.

The €70m project began with a demolition phase in which factories were cleared. That was followed by a second phase, in which Triq il-Gvern Lokali and Triq Guze Gatt were rebuilt and Triq Aldo Moro widened to a ten-lane road.

Its third phase will see new roads built, a seven-flyover intersection, pedestrian paths, bicycle lanes, park and ride facilities and landscaped areas developed, Infrastructure Malta said.

The project is co-financed through the EU’s Connecting Europe Facility.

Photo: Infrastructure Malta