[WATCH] Six offers for proposed Santa Luċija road tunnels

Transport Malta has received six offers with an average value of €19.8 million for the construction of two tunnels beneath the Santa Luċija roundabout.

The request for proposals closed today and Transport Minister Ian Borg said six offers were received from consortia of Maltese and foreign contractors.

He said the offers ranged between €13.5 million and €34.8 million, with an average value of €19.8 million.

Borg said the selection process will start immediately so that the project can get going later this year. It will eventually be coordinated by the new agency, Infrastructure Malta, which will be set up shortly.

The project will see the construction of two 100-metre long tunnels beneath the Santa Luċija roundabout to ensure that traffic heading towards Żejtun and towards Marsa will pass unhindered. The tunnels will be accessed via slip roads from the roundabout.

The tunnels will have two carriageways with two lanes each.

The project will ease congestion at the Santa Luċija roundabout, which is a bottleneck in rush hour traffic, and provide easier access to residents in Santa Luċija, Tarxien and Paola.

It will complement the massive multi-level junction that is being built in Marsa just down the hill.

In a Facebook post, Borg said the government was aiming for high quality infrastructure that satisfied the needs for today and the future.