Planning for future requirements

“When planning new investments, our planners design infrastructure that not only tackles existing difficulties but also provides the necessary functions and capacity for future requirements, including changing demand and the adoption of new or more sustainable technologies,” said Azzopardi.

“For example, the plans for the Central Link Project, which will upgrade the arterial road corridor between Mriehel, Birkirkara, Balzan, Attard and Ta’ Qali, will not only introduce solutions to the congestion and air pollution difficulties in the existing arterial roads, which exceeded their capacity years ago. They will also provide the necessary resources to reduce travelling times by 50 per cent and air pollution by over 13 per cent for many years to come, even taking changes in future demand into consideration.

“The same plans include the development of many new facilities for alternative modes of travel, including over seven kilometres of new segregated cycle tracks, which are non-existent in the area’s current infrastructure. Similar plans, alternative transportation facilities and projections are taken into consideration in other projects on which we are currently working.”

Azzopardi said the increasing number of vehicles using the road infrastructure reflects the economic and social development of the country.

“The improvement of the country’s land transport systems does not, and must not, rely solely on infrastructural investment in the road network. Infrastructure Malta’s projects are part of a wide-ranging, long-term vision that incorporates initiatives, policies and projects that go beyond road building and maintenance and that will gradually prepare our country for future social, economic and technological advancements and opportunities,” he concluded.