Ta’ Xbiex residents ‘trapped in their homes’ after traffic deviations

Elderly Ta’ Xbiex residents feel “trapped inside their homes” following recent traffic deviations, Opposition MP Kristy Debono warned.

Triq ix-Xatt in Ta’ Xbiex has been converted into a one-way road towards Valletta, meaning that traffic that used to pass through it en route to Ta Xbiex, Gzira and Sliema is now being deviated into narrow streets.

In her parliamentary adjournment, Debono said that no signs have been implemented at Triq ix-Xatt to advise drivers on how to reach Gzira and Sliema through alternative streets.

“This is of inconvenience to residents, as their streets have ended up part of the maze for drivers who are unfamiliar with the area,” she said. “This is over and above the air pollution, noise, needless traffic, and frustration for both residents and drivers.”

She said that coaches, trucks and other large vehicles are now trying to manouevre through narrow streets, that normal vehicles find it challenging to pass through.

“I appeal to the authorities to intervene and find a solution that makes sense for drivers and respects the residents,” she said. “As a start, the residents must be properly consulted.”

She hit out at Transport Malta and the Ta’ Xbiex local council for starting a “false” public consultation session with the residents. She said that Transport Malta had presented the council with plans to divert the traffic into alternative side streets in Ta’ Xbiex, and that the council had then written the plans on an A4 paper which the residents could then give their feedback on.

“With all due respect, but this is not how the situation should have been addressed,” she said. “Indeed, it has worried residents even more as it has rendered the local council complicit in the whole story as a pseudo-interlocutor.”