[WATCH] First two Marsa flyovers to be open by end of September

Two of the seven flyovers that will eventually make up the new Marsa Junction will be open to traffic by the end of September, Infrastructure Malta said on Monday.

The agency said that the two flyovers would connect the northbound carriageway of Triq Giuseppe Garibaldi with Triq Aldo Moro. However, Infrastructure Malta said, the flyover would initially be used in the opposite direction – from Aldo Moro towards the Luqa airport.  

The roads agency said it expected this to “decrease some of the vehicular volume from the existing southbound lanes at ground level”.

“As of tomorrow, road users will start noticing changes to the existing configuration of the northbound lanes connecting the Addolorata traffic lights junction to Triq Aldo Moro,” an agency spokesperson said.  

Infrastructure Malta said it would be shifting to one side to allow workers to continue laying the concrete decks for the second flyover above them. The measure will be a temporary one, and is required to ensure there is not risk of objects falling onto the road.

The lanes will again be altered once the stretch of the deck currently being worked on is completed.

Each of the possible road configurations were being modelled and tested in order for there to be minimal congestion. ‘Accurate traffic flow software’ was being used to ensure the least possible impact on the over 110,000 people who travel through the area every day.

The agency said it was coordinating its efforts with the police and Transport Malta, who are providing additional assistance to motorists on the road.

“Traffic police and Transport Malta officers are stationed in the area to monitor the roads leading to the Addolorata junction and to take immediate action in case of difficulties,” the agency said.

It added that drivers can also call Transport Malta’s support line on 80073399 in the case of an emergency.

Infrastructure Malta said that the “superstructures and the four-lane deck of the first flyover structure” was nearing completion.

Its contractors, it said, had already set the flyover’s 56 prestressed concrete beams and cast its deck.

The steel beams forming the second flyover’s curved superstructure were shipped from Turkey and arrived in Malta over the last weeks.

Workers have also started building and backfilling the two ramps that will connect the ends of the two interconnected flyover structures. Work on the other flyovers has also begun, Infrastructure Malta said.

Beneath the flyovers, Infrastructure Malta said it would be laying 15 kilometres of underground electricity, water, sewage, Internet and telecommunications services cables and duct routes. A storm water system, including a new reservoir, is also being constructed.

Rainwater from the reservoir will be used to water the new trees and the landscaped areas that the agency is preparing to embellish the Marsa Junction Project site, the agency said.