Infrastructure Malta is carrying out maintenance works to the decks of the two flyovers connecting the Mriehel Bypass to the Marsa-Hamrun Bypass, and several other works along this route, tonight and during the next two weeks.

These works, including repairs and maintenance of the flyovers’ road surfaces and the laying of the topmost asphalt layers to the recently-rebuilt carriageways of the Marsa-Hamrun Bypass, are being carried out during the night and on weekends, to minimise difficulties to road users.

This evening (Wednesday 26^th September), between 1800hrs and 0500hrs tomorrow morning, the two flyovers linking the southbound carriageway of the Mriehel Bypass to the Marsa-Hamrun Bypass will be closed as workers start the necessary repair and maintenance works on their decks. Part of one of the deck surfaces will also be relevelled to alleviate flooding difficulties along this stretch of road.

During the same night, other workers will be starting the final asphalt laying works of the slip road connecting the southbound exit of the Santa Venera tunnels to the Marsa-Hamrun Bypass. The slip road will be closed at 1800hrs in the direction of Marsa. The connection from the same carriageway to the underpass leading to Qormi and the Mriehel Bypass will be closed at 2100hrs. The road and the tunnels will be re-opened in all directions early the next morning, at 0500hrs.

This slip road was recently widened to eliminate a bottleneck caused by the merging of the Santa Venera tunnels’ southbound dual-lane carriageway to a single lane as it joined the Marsa-Hamrun Bypass. Through a €5 million project launched earlier this year, the Marsa-Hamrun Bypass was widened to a six-lane road to remove this bottleneck and to improve the safety and efficiency of other slip roads and junctions connected to it. This investment is reducing travelling times along this route by 42%, whilst improving the area’s air quality by decreasing congestion emissions.           

The new and rebuilt lanes of the Marsa-Hamrun Bypass were made available to road users last week. The project’s remaining works, including the laying of the topmost asphalt layer to the two carriageways, will be done at night, and on weekends, during the next two weeks. The southbound carriageway will be closed at all times from the early hours of Saturday 29^th September to the morning of Sunday 30^th September, and at night only between Monday 1^st and Wednesday 3^rd October. Works on the northbound carriageway will be carried out during the same times the following week, between Saturday 6^th and Wednesday 10^th October.  

Road users travelling along these routes are encouraged to follow the signposted diversions, or to use alternative routes. Traffic management officers will be stationed in the area to assist road users in difficulty.

The Marsa-Hamrun Bypass project, which may be part-financed by the European Union’s Cohesion Fund, is scheduled to be completed in April 2019. However, Infrastructure Malta is planning to complete the project in October, several months ahead of schedule.

This project also 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. It includes another two projects, including the second phase of the Marsa Junction Project at the Addolorata Cemetery intersection and the rebuilding of parts of Triq Dicembru 13 and the northern end of Triq Aldo Moro, which are also being completed in October.

Together, these upgrades are giving road users over 15 kilometres of new or rebuilt lanes and 10 upgraded junctions along way, reducing travelling times and increasing road safety whilst improving air quality in nearby localities.