Footpaths, cycling lanes and landscaping to comprise third of project footprint - ministry

● Area used for alternate travel means to exceed size of agricultural land taken up

While the Central Link project will eat up 50,000 square metres of agricultural land, a third of the total area of the finished project will be comprised of alternative travel infrastructure as well as landscaped areas, the infrastructure ministry says.

In fact, 62,000 square metres of the total 180,000 square metre footprint will be made up of segregated cycling lanes, footpaths and landscaped areas that will serve as buffer zones between the road and nearby residences.

The €55 million project, aimed at alleviating traffic congestion, and which stretches from the Mrieħel bypass to the foot of Saqqaja Hill, has received harsh criticism, with the main point of contention being the uprooting of trees and the take-up of almost 49,000 square metres of agricultural land.

But the ministry says that the area comprised of cycling lanes, footpaths and landscaping will exceed the amount of additional land taken up by the project by 26 per cent.

The entire project, when completed, will encompass around 180,000 square metres (including the additional 49,000sqm of virgin land that will be taken up). This will include the upgraded road infrastructure as well as alternative travel infrastructure and landscaping.

Figures provided by the ministry yesterday show that around 11,000 square metres of this total will be comprised of segregated cycle tracks. This is the equivalent of 22 per cent of the additional area that will be taken up by the project.

The project will also include 24,000 square metres of landscaped areas (49% of the additional take-up), and 27,000 square metres of footpaths (55% of additional land take-up).

An Infrastructure Malta official explained that this additional infrastructure will not necessarily be developed on the agricultural land that is being taken up, but will be incorporated along the project route.

The project would require a smaller additional area if it did not include landscaping and cycling tracks, but both features are necessary, it was explained, both from a safety point of view and also from an environmental one.

The landscaped areas are being included as a buffer between the road and residences in the area, and will also include a number of trees, it was explained.

“The Central Link will not only be using 57 per cent less land than that earmarked in the 2006 plans, but instead of using it for a four-lane bypass as planned 13 years ago, it will accommodate two vehicle lanes, new landscaped areas, pavements and the new segregated bi directional cycle track,” the ministry spokesperson said.

Prime Minister Joseph Muscat also defended the project yesterday. Speaking to journalists, Muscat said that the impression that big trees are going to be uprooted and that the Central Link project is going to leave a mess in its wake is mistaken.

Asked whether, given the public outcry that has resulted from the approval of the Central Link project, the government was being insensitive and should take a step back from the project, Muscat said that the government had already taken a step back from the project by changing the plans which had been proposed by the previous administration in 2006.

He said that this 2006 proposal would have taken up almost 60 per cent more agricultural land than the now approved version of the project, noting that this was the sensible ‘step back’ that the government had taken.

He said that there are indeed groups who are very vocal in their opposition to the project and that their concerns need to be taken note of and that the government needs to communicate things better.

He said that the impression that big trees are going to be uprooted and that the Central Link project is going to leave a mess in its wake is mistaken, and noted that both the Birkirkara and the Balzan mayors had confirmed that trees will not be uprooted in this regard.

Muscat also cited correspondence with people who live in the area, who have said that the project will save them a lot of emissions.

“The government has listened and will continue to listen,” Muscat said.

The Central Link project was approved last week but there has been outcry from members of the public over the fact that some 48,000 square metres of land and over 500 trees – many of which are protected – will be lost to facilitate the project.

A protest has in fact been organised against the project this coming Sunday, while it took less than 24 hours for members of the public to raise the €20,000 needed to lodge an appeal against the project.