Transport Minister to meet Kamra tal-Periti over radical last-ditch Msida Creek proposal

Transport Minister Chris Bonett is meeting the Kamra tal-Periti over its radical proposal to transform Msida’s main square and do away with a proposed flyover.

In a Facebook post on Monday, Bonett said he will be listening to what the chamber has to say after it unveiled plans for a complete makeover at Msida Creek that elicited multiple positive reactions.

The Kamra tal-Periti’s designs come at a very late stage when public contracts for works to redesign Msida Creek and build a flyover have already been awarded and signed.

The Msida Creek project proposed by Infrastructure Malta sees the creation of an open square in front of the parish church, a canal and open spaces along it. However, it also foresees the construction of a flyover between the square and Regional Road to do away with the traffic lights at the junction where traffic from Birkirkara joins the square.

However, in a radically different proposal, the Kamra tal-Periti is suggesting the creation of a wooded area in the square that would complement a formal open pjazza in front of the church.

The Kamra tal-Periti proposal uses the existing Valley Road bridge junction to re-route traffic to Valletta and Ta' Xbiex (Photo: Kamra tal-Periti)

The proposal also re-routes traffic along Valley Road and onto the junction that already exists near the reservoirs. Traffic from Valletta would loop at that junction to head back towards Ta’ Xbiex, while traffic from the Paceville area would have to proceed to the Valley Road bridge and take a slip road down to Valley Road thus avoiding the Skate Park area.

In his post on Monday, Bonett said planning on the Msida Creek project started five years ago and several changes were done to the project following public consultation. The finalised plans that were approved by the Planning Authority created more open spaces and were visually more pleasing than the original plans. However, a flyover will still be necessary in the square.

Works on the project are slated to start in the coming months.

“The [Kamra tal-Periti] proposal that was made available to the media consists of designs, which although are visually pleasing, raise several question marks on traffic management and the freedom I have at this stage to vary, or change the project and what legal and financial consequences this may have,” Bonett said.

However, he added that he could not ignore the feedback that the Kamra tal-Periti proposal generated and will be meeting the chamber over the coming days.

Meanwhile, Msida’s mayor-elect Charles Selvaggi (PN) and all PN councillors have called on government to immediately evaluate the proposal put forward by the Kamra tal-Periti and determine whether it is a suitable alternative.

The PN councillors also called on the authorities to meet the Kamra tal-Periti and all councillors-elect before the start of any works to discuss whether the new proposal or parts of it can be implemented.