UNIVERSITY

250 parking spaces made inaccessible by Kappara project

The tunnel connecting 250 parking spaces at the University of Malta to the rest of the campus has been closed by Transport Malta as part of the government’s Kappara junction project.

The closure of the tunnel, which is reportedly not even being worked on at the moment, means that pedestrian access from this area to the campus has been cut off. Since no plan or alternative route was created by Transport Malta, parking in this zone has also become a futile exercise.

Parking spaces at the university have been a hot topic for many years and the problems are only being exacerbated with the loss of another 250 spaces. Students have reportedly been parking in Swatar and as far as Birkirkara as a result.

This loss of parking spaces is drastically affecting students, who either have to wake up extremely early or go to lectures late.

This newspaper has heard stories of students driving to university at 7.30am in the hope of finding a place to park, even if their lectures start at 10am. It is not uncommon for students to give up and return home.

Coupled with recent NSO figures revealing that 43 cars are added to Maltese roads every day, the situation is only getting worse.

The cycling commuter group Bicycling Advocacy Group (BAG.) has expressed frustration with the lack of planning by Transport Malta for pedestrians and cyclists. It called upon the regulator and Minister for Transport and Infrastructure Ian Borg to step up efforts to finish the work on either the roundabout under the Kappara flyover or the university tunnel. The group mainly focused on university staff and students who travel on foot and are extremely cross at having both shortcuts to Sliema, Gżira and the university closed at the same time. “This is a popular shortcut, even for students who drive, who are often forced to park in Gżira,” they added.

“It’s a simple case of planning failure,” the group said, also stating that “we then wonder why people are discouraged from walking and are tempted to drive ridiculously short distances.”

“We have to learn to give people on foot a viable alternative, even for temporary works. It all boils down to poor project management and a lack of professional empathy with anyone other than those driving a car.”

Contacted by The Malta Independent, the University of Malta confirmed that Transport Malta was responsible for the closure of the tunnel but said that “Carpark 8 and Parking Area No. 10 are still available. The difference is that access is now only from the Gżira South Gate.”

It added that a notification had been appearing on the university news portal since 9 August and a separate email was also sent to all students and staff.

The university did not address questions on whether any alternate parking plans exist.

Nevertheless, University of Malta students did recently launch a successful and popular carpooling group on Facebook. The group has attracted some 2,500 members. On ‘Carpool Malta’, members post their journeys to and from campus and beyond, offering lifts to anyone making a similar trip at the same time.

The university, along with the student council (KSU), has introduced various schemes over the years to encourage carpooling, cycling and greener modes of transport. In fact, the university recently confirmed that the parking shortage is not something likely to change since an increase in parking areas is not going to happen any time soon.

This year it was confirmed that plans for an underground car park for 134 vehicles within a new research block at the university had been scrapped and the space will instead be used for laboratories.

The change of plans came after the development permit had already been authorised.