The Żebbuġ and Siġġiewi councils were given details about major works on a traffic junction to the two towns only days before the project gets under way on Thursday night.

The works involve the replacement of a roundabout with a traffic lights system and the introduction of dedicated lanes for different routes. 

On Wednesday, Infrastructure Malta announced it was upgrading the busy junction, claiming it would reduce travel time in the area by 30%.

The works are expected to be completed by September.

Siġġiewi mayor Dominic Grech told Times of Malta he was briefed about the project at the beginning of the week.

He lamented it was impossible to understand the project, consult about it, gather feedback from the residents and provide feedback to the authorities within hours.

Grech said he flagged this short notice concern with the authorities during a second meeting held on Thursday for Żebbuġ and Siġġiewi councillors.

Dominic Grech Facebook post.

During the Thursday meeting, the Siġġiewi council sought clarifications about the studies carried out ahead of the project and about a separate small roundabout planned for a road linking the two localities.

Żebbuġ mayor Mark Camilleri, who joined Thursday’s meeting, also complained about the short notice.

Both mayors agreed that something needed to be done about the traffic bottlenecks at peak hours in the area.

Mark Camilleri Facebook post.

Żebbuġ local councillor Steve Zammit Lupi flagged concern about three olive trees that will be uprooted from the current roundabout and replanted on the new junction islands.

“The local council learnt about the plans when it received a request for a trenching permit through Transport Malta’s system. The process requires the council to lay down a number of conditions.

“The councillors learnt of a proposal for works on Monday morning through an email,” he said on Thursday.

During a meeting soon after the announcement, the councillors were presented with detailed plans they had never seen before, and the proposal seemed finalised, Zammit Lupi added.

By Thursday morning, which is when works were expected to kick off, the council had not received official plans, despite TM chasing the council to greenlight the works, he told Facebook followers.

Zammit Lupi complained that the ‘upgrade’ ignores alternative commuting, and warned that the traffic lights system will be a short-term solution and will create fresh tailbacks to Qormi and Siġġiewi.

Steve Zammit Lupi Facebook post.

Infrastructure Malta 'reached out'

When contacted, a spokesperson said IM said the agency “reached out to the Żebbuġ and Siġġiewi local councils as soon as soon as it concluded traffic modelling and identified a feasible proposal that could be implemented with minimal adverse impacts, in preparation for other long-term options that can be considered in the future”. 

During an initial consultation meeting, the two local councils agreed on the urgent need for immediate interventions to reduce the consequences of congestion in their localities, he said, adding the agency met the councils again on Thursday to discuss their concerns.

“The councils requested information about the traffic modelling carried out, which considered traffic flows at different times of day at 10 different zones, 46 nodes and 125 connections around this junction.

"IM provided the requested explanations and took note of the local councils’ concerns, including potential safety risks along the hairpin route from Żebbuġ to Siġġiewi, which will be mitigated with several safety measures,” the spokesperson said.

He said IM invited the councils to provide proposals for improvement, while consultation will continue in the coming weeks.

'Doing nothing is not an option'

“In the meantime, however, as all parties agree that doing nothing is not an option, preparatory works will proceed as planned on Thursday night (today) and on Friday. The project in this arterial road, and any improvements that the local councils may recommend, need to be completed before the end of summer to avoid causing difficulties to road users when schools reopen.”

The works were expected to kick off on Thursday. Image: Infrastructure Malta

What will happen to the trees?

The agency is also in talks with the Environment and Resources Authority to prune and transplant six trees – two of which are currently on the roundabout, he said. The third tree will remain untouched and incorporated in the new island.

Another four trees along the side of the same roundabout will be transplanted as well.

A further six trees along the traffic  junction will not need to be uprooted since they will be incorporated into the junction’s new landscaped areas.

Further south - along Mdina Road - another five trees may need to be uprooted or transplanted in the coming months.