Marsa-Hamrun bypass to be closed on Saturday

The southbound carriageway of the Marsa-Hamrun Bypass leading from the Santa Venera and Mriehel towards Marsa will be closed on Saturday 29 September.

In a statement, Infrastructure Malta said the bypass would be closed while a new asphalt surface is laid down to complete the rebuilding of the road through a €5 million investment. 

Drivers are being encouraged to use alternative routes through Msida and Marsa via Triq Dicembru 13, or through Zebbug, Qormi and Luqa, when traveling to the south of Malta.

The southbound carriageway of the Santa Venera tunnels should be avoided, since the exit towards the Marsa-Hamrun Bypass will be closed as road users will be diverted to an alternative route through Qormi, the roads agency said. 

Vehicles that are traveling to the south of Malta from Mriehel Bypass will be diverted to Msida or Qormi, as the connection to the Marsa Hamrun Bypass will be closed.

a bird's eye view of the Marsa-Hamrun Bypass

Police and Transport Malta traffic management officers will be stationed in the area and along alternative routes to help road users if difficulty should arise. Transport Malta’s emergency vehicle breakdown towing service will also be available in this area.

The same southbound carriageway of the Marsa-Hamrun will also be closed again on Tuesday 2 October between 7pm and 5am. This is needed in order to apply the topmost asphalt cover.

Similar works will be carried out on the northbound carriage way of the same road between 13 and 17 October.

the Marsa-Hamrun Bypass project was launched earlier this year to widen the six-lane road and improve safety and efficiency of the junctions and slip roads connected to it. This will eradicate several bottlenecks that cause delays to road users that travel along the south-central route, Infrastructure Malta said. 

The agency said the investment will reduce "traveling times in this road by 42% while also improving the area’s air quality by decreasing congestion emissions”.            

The bypass project is partly financed by the European Union’s Cohesion fund and is scheduled to be completed in April 2019. But new and rebuilt lanes on this road became available to to road users last week.

Infrastructure Malta has stated that they are “planning to complete the project in October, several months ahead of schedule”.

The project forms part of a wider €14.2 million investment to upgrade the arterial south-central road link, from Triq Aldo Moro in Marsa, to the Santa Venera tunnels and the Mriehel Bypass at Santa Venera and Qormi.