A prominent Msida road will be resurfaced by the end of the month, the Water Services Corporation has promised after delays left motorists and business owners dealing with traffic congestion and dust.
Ix-Xatt Ta’ Xbiex has been in a poor state since the project began in July 2022.
Initially, the Water Services Corporation, which is responsible for managing the €930,000 project, said it would be completed by this April but, four months later, the road remained reduced to one lane.
A WSC spokesperson has now confirmed that the 400-metre road will be resurfaced by September 2.
“I am pleased to inform you that, by the end of next week, the said road will be asphalted,” he said.
In May, the WSC said resurfacing of the bumpy road could not start due to a delay in the placing of a stormwater culvert by the Public Works Department.
The idea was to avoid disrupting newly laid asphalt in the future. Despite assuring that the stormwater system was to be installed a week later, after three months the situation on the road remained the same.
“I am glad to report that we are now at that stage and are proceeding as planned,” the WSC told Times of Malta on Tuesday.
The works on the Msida road did not just mean furious motorists were forced to navigate a sea of potholes and get stuck in a build-up of traffic.
Shop and restaurant owners along the road have also borne the brunt, dealing with copious amounts of dust for over a year.
One disgruntled shop owner claimed he had lost his voice because of the pollution and that he was constantly washing down his shop as it got engulfed in a “cloud of dust” every time a bus passed.
Business was also down in the area, he claimed.
Regeneration works on the Msida pedestrian promenade by the Grand Harbour Regeneration Project were unveiled in January, boasting widening and repaving, a new cycling lane and improved street lighting and mooring facilities. But the sprucing up of the promenade, to the tune of over €2 million, had done little to minimise the disruption of the roadworks on commuters, who described driving there as “a disaster” and dangerous.
Speaking at the inauguration, Infrastructure Minister Aaron Farrugia had said the investment gave rise to one of the most beautiful promenades in Malta and prioritised “the needs of the people and their quality of life”.
Msida mayor Margaret Baldacchino Cefai on Tuesday said the local council was in constant contact with the WSC on the asphalting project and was informed that “works will be completed in the coming weeks”.