The government has earmarked several arterial roads that will be re-built using European Union funds granted to Malta in the 2007 to 2013 budget.

Sources said the roads chosen are: Council of Europe Road in Luqa, which links up with Civil Aviation Avenue currently being re-built; the access road to the Sea Passenger Terminal; Marfa Road in Mellieha; the Marsascala Bypass and a number of roads at the Ta Qali Crafts Village.

Council of Europe road will be re-built from scratch and will be widened to take a dual carriageway in each direction. The project, which is expected to cost around e6 million, will involve the re-construction of two roundabouts – the one known as the Dinitrol roundabout and the other at the top of Garibaldi Street.

This project will also see the construction of pavements on both sides of the road and pelican crossings. Sources said the government is expected to issue a call for tenders towards the end of the year.

The second project is the access road to the Sea Passenger Terminal, which is being divided into two phases. The first phase will consist of the re-construction of the road connecting the menqa in Marsa to the Sea Passenger Terminal and the Valletta Waterfront. The second phase will see the construction of an underpass linking December 13th Road to the Marsa menqa.

This project is also expected to cost a total of e6 million. A call for tenders for the first phase will be issued by the end of this year while the call for tenders for the second phase will be issued by mid-2007.

The third project is the re-building of Marfa Road in Mellieha which links Ghadira Bay to Cirkewwa. This project will involve the construction of a central strip and two roundabouts and will also include the upgrading of the junction to Paradise Bay.

This road was originally earmarked to be included in the lot of roads being re-built using the 2006 EU funds but it had to be substituted with the Manwel Dimech Bridge when experts concluded that the bridge had to be re-built.

Pavements will be upgraded and a number of pelican crossings and cycle lanes will be introduced. This project is expected to cost around e5.8 million and a call for tenders will be issued by the end of this year.

Another project is the re-construction of the Marsascala Bypass, which will be completely re-designed. A number of junctions, pavements and bus stops will be upgraded and pelican crossings introduced.

This project will cost around e5 million and a call for tenders will be issued by the end of this year.

Finally, the project at the Ta Qali Crafts Village will see the construction of a 1,300-metre ring road and a pedestrian zone 1,500 metres long. New electricity and water services will be laid and storm water culverts will be constructed.

The estimate for this project has yet to be been calculated in view of the extensive work that is involved, but a call for tenders is expected to be issued by the end of this year.

At the moment, there are six projects underway utilising European Union funds.