Four underground tunnels in project to connect Coast Road to St George’s Bay

Infrastructure Malta has launched plans to develop four undergound tunnels and to reconstruct St Andrew’s Road to improve the safety and efficiency of the arterial connections in Pembroke, St Julian’s and other nearby areas and localities.

This will include a 500-metre one-lane tunnel which will link the northbound carriageway of Regional Road, before reaching the Paceville traffic lights junction.

The longest of the four tunnels will connect the southern end of the Coast Road to St George's Bay and will be a 1.5-kilometre underground link with one lane in each direction.

A 115-metre underground connection will start at Church Street (Millenium Chapel area) and exit at Spinola Bay (St George’s Road).

Infrastructure Malta: four new tunnels and other upgrades

The new project extending from the Coast Road to Regional Road was announced in a statement released by Infrastructure Malta on Saturday. On Friday, Infrastructure Malta submitted the project's initial development applications to the Planning Authority (PA) to launch public consultations and request the necessary authorisations as part of the applicable permitting procedures.

This project includes the reconstruction of St Andrew’s Road and part of the Coast Road in a new four-lane design, to eliminate several traffic lights junctions and other bottlenecks along this route.

The rationale behind this project, Infrastructure Malta said, is "reducing congestion difficulties in several nearby adjoining roads and junctions."

It will also be aimed at providing easier access to Paceville and Pembroke for commuters from the southern part of Malta and to make it easier for residents in the Pembroke area to travel to and from their homes without having to use the Paceville or Spinola junctions, which will also be upgraded.

"These upgrades will lead to significant travel time reductions in this arterial road corridor, whilst reducing accident risks and congestion pollution in several nearby residential roads, particularly in Pembroke and St Julian’s," the statement read. "In the coming weeks, Infrastructure Malta will continue meeting several stakeholders, including the local councils that will benefit from this project, to further refine these plans and make sure that this part of the country’s arterial road network is adequately consolidated to meet current and future transportation requirements."

Infrastructure Malta said that the Pembroke-St Julian's connections plan will be made available by the PA.

Commenters on Infrastructure Malta's Facebook page asked whether bicycles and alternative transport would be catered for in the proposed project and raised concerns on increased emissions and air pollution.