Pembroke tunnel shelved as road planners opt for two ‘hairpin turns’ in St Andrews

Plans for a 1.5km tunnel between St Andrews and St George’s Bay have been scrapped, Infrastructure Malta CEO Ivan Falzon has confirmed. 

Instead, the roads agency will introduce two ‘hairpin’ turns near the Luxol Grounds to address the traffic bottleneck in Swieqi. 

Other tunnels proposed for the Paceville area in plans submitted almost four years ago have also been scrapped but a grade separated junction at the entrance to the entertainment hub is being considered. 

Speaking to MaltaToday, Falzon said the new plans were drawn up after consultation with local councils. 

The controversial tunnel which was opposed by residents and the Pembroke council would have passed right under a Natura 2000 site opposite residential houses along  Triq il-Mediterran in Pembroke. 

The tunnel was originally proposed to address the increase in traffic resulting from the DB and Villa Rosa projects in St George’s Bay and was later integrated in a planning application submitted by Infrastructure Malta in 2019. 

The planning application also foresaw a 500m one-lane tunnel linking the northbound carriageway of Regional Road to the Paceville traffic lights junction and a 115m underground connection linking  Church Street next to the Millenium Chapel area with Spinola Bay. 

Instead, IM is opting for a different approach focused on the creation of two hairpin turns one near the Luxol Ground and another near the Red Cross building at the intersection between Triq Walter Ganado and Triq Sant Andrija. 

The plans for the two hairpin turns in St Andew’s and the widening of stretch of road from the pelican lights junction at Triq Prof. Ganado up to Triq Villa Rosa

The network upgrade also foresees the widening of a section of Triq Sant Andrija leading to Triq Villa Rosa by six metres on the side of the valley and the creation of a new road linking Triq il-Gwienaq to Triq Sant Andrija aimed at facilitating the flow of traffic within Swieqi. 

But details are still scant on a major overhaul of the junction at the Paceville traffic lights in front of the ecabs head office with Ivan Falzon confirming that plans for a grade separated junction in this area linked to Swieqi, are in the pipeline. 

MaltaToday was given an overview of the plans in reply to questions related to the publication of a newspaper advert by Infrastructure Malta informing landowners of its intent to seek approval from the Planning Authority to carry out civil works at Trig Sant' Andrija, Trig Il-Professur W. Ganado, Trig Villa Rosa and new street in Trig it-Tiben, Swieqi, in conjunction with the proposed network upgrading. 

Hairpin turns to facilitate traffic flows 

Falzon explained that the major shortcoming of the present network is “the uncoordinated crossings” which create bottlenecks and substantial delays on this corridor. 

The existing network consists of a restricted dual carriageway with no central reserve and two traffic light junctions, a  priority T-Junction and a pelican light crossing. 

The roads agency will introduce two ‘hairpin’ turns near the Luxol Grounds to address the traffic bottleneck in Swieqi

According to Falzon the introduction of the two ‘hairpin’  turns, one near the Luxol Ground and another near the Red Cross building will facilitate  traffic to cross over without stopping the opposing traffic flow. 

Moreover,  for safety reasons and to avoid head-on collisions, a physical central reserve in the hairpin turn near Luxol  is being extended. 
The pedestrian pelican crossing will also be relocated to an area between the two hairpin turns and  will be  divided into phases, aimed at improving traffic flows. In this way, the northbound, and southbound traffic will be alternately stopped.  

Since the length of the crossing is being shortened the time taken to cross will also be reduced. Additionally, the traffic will still be able to flow around the hairpin turn. Moreover, according to Falzon reducing a phase from the Pembroke traffic lights will also improve traffic flow at this junction. 

No planning application is required for these roadworks, Falzon said since it will mainly involve the redesign of landscaped areas along the existing road. 

Road to be extended by 6m into neighbouring fields 

The project also foresees the widening of a stretch of road from the pelican lights junction at Triq Prof. Ganado up to Triq Villa Rosa to accommodate an additional lane for traffic and a new shared pedestrian/cycle lane in the form of a raised footpath. 

This will involve a take-up of around 6m of natural land on the side of the existing road.  The area impacted by this widening lies in the development zone but was “safeguarded” from residential development for the future upgrade of the Regional Road junction, in local plans approved in 2006. 

While the present plans involve the take up of natural land, plans included in the 2019 application for an underpass crossing the valley have been scrapped. 
Since these works will result in additional lanes a planning application has been submitted to the Planning Authority. 

Another component of the project is a new road linking Triq il-Gwielaq in Swieqi to the St Andrew’s main road, which will pass through a green area and is aimed at facilitating traffic flows in Swieqi, providing motorists with a quicker exit into the main road network. 

According to Falzon the  proposal is based on a traffic model study based on the projected traffic increase for the coming years.  He also highlighted the importance of developers implementing green travel plans aimed at encouraging alternatives to the private car. 

Falzon acknowledged that the most contentious part of the current network upgrade will be the grade separated junction in the Paceville traffic lights area.  But considerations for this part of the project are still at an initial stage and IM could not provide MaltaToday with the plans.