Ta' Xbiex became totally gridlocked on Friday evening after parts of the seafront road were closed off to traffic due to a child-friendly council activity. 

Triq ix-Xatt in Ta' Xbiex was closed off to cars from next to Mamma Mia all the way up to the square in front of the Msida parish church, trapping exasperated motorists in a near-total gridlock. 

Photo: Chris Sant Fournier

The resulting traffic jam spilt over into the neighbouring streets, with the tailback trailing all the way around the seafront and into Gżira. 

Reports of traffic in the area started being shared on social media at around 6 pm, with many frustrated drivers questioning why such an integral stretch of road had been closed off during peak traffic hours. 

A spokesperson for the police told Times of Malta that no accidents had been reported in the area, however, the police were informed that the road was being closed for a social activity. 

Earlier this week the Msida local council posted on its Facebook page that it would be hosting a children’s activity evening between 7 pm and 10 pm on Friday evening.

The poster shared included Transport Malta’s logo in the artwork. Transport Malta's social media pages did not appear to announce the road closure.

Photo: Chris Sant Fournier

One woman, who said she had taken the bus at 3.45 pm to head to Valletta said that she was still stuck in Ta Xbiex at 6 pm while a man said at around 6 pm it had taken him two hours to get from Ta Xbiex to Ħamrun. 

Many expressed frustration that no one had been advised that the road was planned to be closed and that there was no guidance from law enforcement to resolve the traffic jam. 

One resident who spoke to Times of Malta said that he had seen people on board buses give up, exit the vehicle and start walking, while a tour bus that was in the are had moved roughly 400 metres in the span of one hour.

Photo: Chris Sant Fournier

As the evening progressed, traffic remained dense in the Ta Xbiex area, with access to Gżira and Msida becoming close to impossible to reach, as cars continued to stretch on for several kilometres, scored by the furious honking of horns. 

It also appears that the traffic chaos had even more consequences than trapping commuters on their way home in a miserable standstill, as attendees of a play in Valletta reported that most of the attendees had failed to turn up to the performance, presumably after getting stuck in traffic.