First Marsa flyover expected to be completed by mid-summer

The first flyover in the Marsa junction project is expected to be complete by mid Summer, the Transport Ministry said yesterday, however stressed that the contract with the contractor deals with the final conclusion time of the project, and not such detailed time frames.

Phase 3 of the Marsa junction project is well underway, having started on 17 October last year, and the whole project is expected to take 120 weeks from last October. Triq Aldo Moro to Triq Garibaldi is the first of the seven flyovers being built.

Transport Minister Ian Borg said that by the end of the complete project, the traffic lights will be eliminated from the area.

During the project, certain changes to the current system will take place. As an example, in the coming months, traffic heading to Santa Lucija will be split off earlier. One of the final stages of the project, which will occur sometime next year, will see traffic coming from Santa Lucija diverted to Luqa, and down Aldo Moro. Currently, the Luqa road in question is undergoing works. This will occur while one of the later flyovers will be built.

All 7 flyovers, when complete, will be around 1.1km long, and will have 42 pillars and 350 beams. The project will include cycle lanes, sewage systems, stormwater culverts, the laying of underground electricity cables, footpaths and more. The project also includes a 380 park-and-ride car park and a few footbridges with lifts.

The €70 million project is the largest investment on a single artery in the Maltese road network Transport Minister Ian Borg said, adding that the new multi-level intersection includes the highest, the longest and the widest flyover structures ever built on the island. The tallest one will rise over four storeys to surpass a lower flyover beneath it. The two longest ones extend over 400m and will connect Triq Garibaldi and Vjal Santa Lucija to Triq Aldo Moro. The widest of the seven junctions will include four vehicle lanes, which will fork into two different flyovers each with two lanes.

The project will create direct northbound and southbound connections between Triq Aldo Moro, Vjal Sir Paul Boffa, Vjal Santa Lucija, Triq Giuseppe Garibaldi and Triq il-Marsa, he said.

The minister said that the junction sees 100,000 road users pass through daily.