Luqa Road in Santa Luċija to get €4 million rebuild
The government has issued a call for tenders for the construction of Luqa Road in Santa Lucija, worth €4 million euro, Transport and Infrastructure Minister Ian Borg announced yesterday. Works will begin this year. This project forms part of the wider initiative involving the Marsa Junction Project.
The road extends 0.8 kilometres, from the Santa Luċija roundabout linking Marsa, Paola, Tarxien and Santa Luċija, towards the roundabout connecting the road to Triq Giuseppe Garibaldi and Triq ilKunsill tal-Ewropa. It includes two T-junctions leading to and from Santa Luċija, as well as access roads to the St Thomas More College Secondary School and the Addolorata Cemetery.
Preparatory works for this project, including the temporary widening of the existing road, were carried out earlier this year. Works on site are expected to commence towards the end of the year, as soon as the tendering process for the required road works services is concluded.
Once rebuilt, this road will include a central strip equipped with new street lighting, vehicle restraint (crash barriers) systems and motorcycle strips, for increased road safety. The existing T-junctions to Santa Luċija will be rebuilt in a new design to facilitate safer commutes to and from this locality. The new road design will also incorporate pedestrian crossings and improved bus bays for public transport.
The road will also feature an 800-metre raised track comprising a combined bidirectional cycle track and a pedestrian pathway. The cycle track will eventually link up to the new cycling facilities being developed as part of other upcoming and ongoing projects in the area. These projects include the upgrading of the Santa Luċija roundabout into a multi-level intersection with two underground tunnels, and the Marsa Junction Project’s sevenflyover intersection at Triq Aldo Moro, between Marsa and Paola.
Borg said that the rebuilding of Triq Ħal Luqa was an important development for thousands of road users who use this arterial road during their daily commutes to and from the southern part of Malta.
“Such projects form part of a wider infrastructural plan consisting of short, medium and long-term interventions to gradually augment the quality, efficiency and safety of the country’s arterial road network, to meet current and future travel requirements, and to develop improved facilities for alternative modes of transportation. Through a new, focused approach, Infrastructure Malta will be planning and implementing these projects while co-ordinating an unprecedented investment in the repair and reconstruction of many other residential and rural roads across Malta and Gozo,” Borg explained.