Lack of human resources due to coronavirus has delayed the opening of all seven Marsa flyovers by weeks, but the €70 million project is still on track and should be completed by the end of the year.

In January, before the COVID-19 pandemic reached Malta, Infrastructure Malta had said all seven flyovers should be completed by the end of June.

So far, 70% of the project is complete and the structures of all seven flyovers are in place. Three were opened for motorists last year.

“Final work to open the other four flyovers is ongoing. Some of this work, originally planned for spring 2020, had to be rescheduled after COVID-19 restrictions limited the availability of specialised human resources,” an Infrastructure Malta spokesperson told Times of Malta.

“In line with these revised plans, IM will be opening the remaining four flyovers in a few weeks’ time – latest by mid-August – but still in time to complete the Marsa and the Santa Lucia projects by the end of December, as originally planned.”

This will be possible because while work on the flyovers themselves had to be reprogrammed, other works are now ahead of schedule.

During COVID-19, IM prioritised operations that could carry on, such as the construction of a pedestrian and cycling underpass, two footbridges, walk-through underground culverts for electricity cables, reservoirs, underground stormwater systems and the laying of underground networks.

At the same time, the agency intensified works on the construction of the tunnels and new roundabout slip roads of the Santa Luċija underpass project, a short distance away along the same south-central route. 

There, IM recently exceeded the halfway mark of the project, which includes two cut-and-cover tunnels beneath the Santa Luċija roundabout to directly connect the Addolorata Hill with Tal-Barrani Road. Above this underpass, the existing roundabout will be rebuilt in a new design that facilitates safer and quicker access to the residents of Santa Luċija, Paola and Tarxien, according to IM.

The excavation of the 130-metre approach ramps to the tunnels on either side of the roundabout has been completed.

IM’s contractors are now excavating the final section of this connection, underneath the roundabout. Meanwhile, the construction of the four slip roads connecting the roundabout to Addolorata Hill and Tal-Barrani Road is nearing completion and some of them are already being used as temporary diversion routes.