Because road was oad to be removed – IM CEO

I think here there is an agreement that we need to intervene. What there may not be an agreement on is our design. The original plan was that all traffic was diverted from the outside of Attard. We tried to find a balance and split the traffic more evenly.

On the implication that they may not have had a fair hearing, I would rather not comment given that they intend to take the case to court.

This is a project which was approved 60 years ago, reconfirmed in the 1990s, reconfirmed again in 2000 in the local plan, and approved by the European Commission. We believe that it is important and if the courts decide that there are things we have to change, we will change them and go forward once again. This project is going to be carried out.

We have followed all that has been requested of us from the Planning Authority and the ERA among others, and we need to ensure that such an important project for the country is implemented. As always, if there are places where we need to make changes, we will.

A recently revealed project is that of the Pembroke tunnels. The project has been criticized by some including major firm International Hotel Investment plc, which owns Corinthia San Gorg, the Radisson, and the Marina Hotel which says that this will only accommodate new major developments in the area, and not to alleviate existing traffic jams.

What do you say to this?

These were very interesting objections, because while we are used to getting objections from NGOs and local councils, this time we got some from businesses. That alone confirms that our plans are not targeted at any particular sector.

Maybe things could be improved, but at no point are we going to build a tunnel which starts in a public place and ends in a private place. The tunnels we proposed start in a public place and end in a public place. Yes, there are branches which will go into private property – this helps to reduce traffic which passes above ground, which even improves emission levels. The tunnels are not going to be built for particular projects – tunnels will be built to help, where they can, direct traffic underground.

This is a process which has just started at the PA – consultations are ongoing so, yes, if we can improve or change things, we are open to it.

The Superintendence of Cultural Heritage has also expressed concerns about several archaeological and historical sites in the area how will you be making sure that these sites, some of which are quite fragile, are not affected by the development?

One of the entities which we work closest with is the Superintendence of Cultural Heritage. We work with them a lot and I am looking forward to discussing this project. We are ready to change things, monitor things and even deviate from the original plan if need be, as we had to do in Santa Luċija, for instance. It is in Infrastructure Malta’s interest to safeguard our cultural heritage.

There has been criticism levelled at Infrastructure Malta for a lack of focus on alternative means of transport such as cycling, with cyclists’ lobby group BAG arguing that the infrastructure for bicycles in new projects is not up to scratch Central Link, for instance, have bicycle lanes which are not connected, along with complaints on Tal-Balal. Is IM making efforts to address these concerns?

If we take the Central Link project, the Bicycle Advocacy Group president told us that with some tweaking, the project would be acceptable. I believe that a lot of that tweaking has already been done, but I am looking forward to meeting them to see what we need to fix. However, I am very satisfied that only minor tweaks are required to a project of such a scale.

With Tal-Balal, everyone who passes through there knows that connectivity between San Ġwann and Naxxar was nonexistent other than by a car. We had to widen the road and it was felt that we should provide a pavement and crossings for pedestrians along the whole way. For cyclists, meanwhile, we saw fit to place sharrows – an idea which BAG had come up with; so we took their proposal on board and introduced what they suggested.

However, you then have the roundabouts at TalBalal which BAG instructed their members not to use as they are dangerous...

I think one must be careful when giving instructions to ignore road signs. Feeling that you should take the law into your own hands and suggest certain things is wrong. If there is the need to embark on an educative campaign to inform not just cyclists – as the problem isn’t generally the cyclist – but also car drivers who may not know what priority they have to give, to who, and when, then we should do it. So let us agree to embark on an educatational campaign to show everyone on our roads who has priority and where – I think we should do that.

One of the biggest problems in Malta is the sheer number of cars we have; almost 400,000 cars for half a million people. Do you think that Infrastructure Malta’s projects will ultimately help to reduce this dependence on cars?

Infrastructure Malta isn’t just about widening roads, as many seem to think. Through our projects, we are, where possible, introducing infrastructure such as pavements, cycle lanes, and public transport priority lanes to help improve alternative transport infrastructure.

There are roads, like TaċĊawsli, which we felt we could narrow, but there were others which, yes, we felt needed to be widened. In doing so, however, we are pushing traffic out of village centres and onto arterial roads, reducing congestion and emissions within our towns and villages. We are, however, definitely thinking about the future in our projects.