Controversial plans for a new Rabat Road are being recommended for approval, despite concerns about hundreds of trees being uprooted and agricultural land being destroyed as a result. 

The decision on the €55 million Central Link Project, as it is called, will be taken on Thursday during a public meeting of the Planning Authority Board. 

What will the project entail?

Unveiled in May last year, the project aims to alleviate traffic around Attard and remove the bottleneck at Triq in-Nutar Zarb. Stretching from the foot of Saqqajja Hill, in Rabat, to Mrieħel Bypass, it also incorporates a new bypass on the outskirts of the village. 

How many trees will be lost? 

Faced by a public outrage, especially from environmentalists and Attard residents, the government has made numerous revisions to the plans but the end result will still have a significant adverse impact.

Apart from the uprooting of 549 trees, 49,000 square metres of virgin land will be lost and a number of historic buildings close to St Paul’s Chapel, in Attard, will have to make way.

Minister Ian Borg launching the project in 2018. Photo: Mark Zammit Cordina

While the government is pledging to offset this impact through the planting of 766 trees, no mitigating measures are being proposed for the loss of land and historic buildings. 

How about air quality?

The project has also fuelled controversy on air quality. While the government has insisted that this would improve as a result of less traffic congestion, a group of Attard residents objecting to this project are disputing this conclusion. 

The Attard Residents Environmental Network is claiming that wider roads will only serve to encourage more use of cars, which in turn will result in higher emissions. 

Branding the project as “the new cancer factory”, they claim that some 3,000 residents will be exposed to high pollution levels. 

The NGO has been long advocating for environmentally-friendly alternatives like better public transport, a tunnel and incentives for alternative modes of transport.

Infrastructure Malta has touted an Environmental Impact Assessment as evidence that the project will improve air quality.

What has the PA said about the project?

The Planning Authority’s case officer, who is recommending the project for approval, notes that according to various studies, out of six possible scenarios considered, including a tunnel, this was the cheapest option financially while having a “moderate” environmental impact. Moreover, doing nothing would result in a complete gridlock by 2028, the report says. 

The planned extension will stretch from Rabat through Attard (pictured) to the start of Mrieħel.