Sliema-Gzira bus lane reopens in time for Black Friday

The Sliema seafront bus lane will reopen in time for Black Friday and stay open throughout the Christmas shopping period, Enemalta has announced.

“The new cables will increase network capacity and strengthen the reliability of supply in the area,” Enemalta said on Tuesday morning. They said the cable works began last week to strengthen the electricity network serving the seafront area and central Sliema, where demand for electricity has risen considerably in recent years.

Last week, the authority announced it will begin works to install a new electricity cable between Manoel Island and Sliema Ferries, with traffic disruptions expected along the seafront.

During this period, the bus lane running parallel to the seafront will be closed to allow excavation and cable-laying works, while traffic heading out of Sliema will be reduced to a single lane.

Enemalta split the works into phases after talks with the Sliema local council and local business representatives to limit disruption during the busy shopping period.

The company will fill in the trenches and remove the barriers at the end of the first phase so buses can use the lane again.

The project includes 4.5km of 11kV cables linking the Manoel Island Distribution Centre directly to central Sliema.

Enemalta is also laying 2.7km of low-voltage cables to strengthen the local network.

The works are expected to take around two months to complete.