The accidental spillage of gallons of cooking oil on the Marsa junction flyover last May, which forced its partial closure, racked up a bill of around €200,000, according to Infrastructure Malta.

The flyover had to be stripped off its oil-drenched asphalt and relaid after a truck carrying large volumes of cooking oil spilt some 200 litres as it drove on the flyover on May 26. Both the flyover connecting Triq Garibaldi, in Luqa, to Aldo Moro Road, in Marsa, and a road lying beneath it were affected.

A spokesperson for Infrastructure Malta said discussions were under way to recover the costs from the person responsible for the damage.

Contractors had been deployed to the site to take part in a clean-up operation led by the Civil Protection Department. The truck driver responsible for the spill had also helped in the clean-up.

Around 300 metres of the impacted road had to be resurfaced

However, this was not enough to ensure the road was safe, so road contractors were brought in to remove the layer of damaged asphalt and relay a fresh one. Around 300 metres of the impacted road had to be resurfaced.

Infrastructure Malta CEO Ivan Falzon told Times of Malta that the works related to the oil spill included a new surface, including new road markings and the cleansing of storm water system by a specialised cleaning company.

Asked about complaints by a bicycle advocacy group about oil spilled onto the bicycle lane on the road beneath the flyover, Falzon said that while the cleaning operation was still ongoing, the bicycle lane was mostly clear, with the remaining material that absorbs the oil removed once the cleaning operation was complete. General debris and cleansing residue had nothing to do with spillage incident.

The flyover connects traffic heading from Luqa to Marsa and is a key part of Malta’s Ten-T priority road network. It was opened in late 2019 as part of the €70 million Marsa junction project.