The Coast Road project currently underway is expected to be completed by May 2015 and is expected to cost some €53 million, Transport Minister Joe Mizzi said this morning.

Addressing a press conference in Bahar ic-Caghaq, he said that the new administration was trying to instil a new culture in road building.

The previous government, he said, left a complete chaos in Transport Malta when it came to major infrastructural projects with lack of planning and high budget overruns in the finishing of projects and costs.

Mr Mizzi said that he was pressing contractors to finish projects on time and in line with the approved budget.

He said the massive Coast Road project, which was being built through EU funds and involved the widening of the road, needed 60 weeks for completion and the works had already reached advanced stages after just four weeks.

Mr Mizzi said the government was also planning to build a new pedestrian bridge on the Mriehel bypass and would soon submit plans for a new junction in Marsa, estimated to cost €80 million. He said that the latter would have to qualify for EU funds before works could commence.