The southbound carriageway of the Marsa-Hamrun Bypass, from the Santa Venera tunnels and Mriehel towards Marsa and Qormi, will be closed tonight, Monday 1st October, between 1900hrs and 0500hrs tomorrow morning, to complete the laying of its new road surface.
The southbound Tal-Qroqq tunnel (beneath University of Malta roundabout) and the southbound Santa Venera tunnel, which connect the Kappara flyover to Triq Regjonali to the Marsa-Hamrun Bypass, will be closed from 1900hrs onwards as well.
Last Saturday, Infrastructure Malta laid the first of the final two levels of asphalt to this carriageway, which was widened and rebuilt as part of a €5 million road upgrade commenced earlier this year. The topmost layer was scheduled to be applied on Tuesday 2nd October but was brought forward to tonight due to a bad weather forecast.
Road users travelling towards the south of Malta from the Kappara flyover junction will be diverted to the University of Malta roundabout and on towards Msida and Marsa (Triq Dicembru 13). Commuters reaching Triq Regjonali from Triq Salvu Psaila in Birkirkara will be directed to Santa Venera and Hamrun whilst those coming from the Mriehel Bypass towards the Marsa-Hamrun Bypass will be redirected to Qormi and Luqa.
The public is encouraged to avoid the southbound route of the Kappara flyover, Triq Regjonali and the Marsa-Hamrun Bypass areas by using alternative routes through Msida and Marsa (Triq Dicembru 13), or from Zebbug, Qormi and Luqa.
Police and Transport Malta traffic management officers will be stationed in the area, and along all alternative routes throughout the night, to guide road users in difficulty. Transport Malta’s emergency vehicle breakdown towing service will be available at all times in this area as well. Drivers can call the emergency support line 8007 3399 to request this assistance.
Tonight’s works include the laying of the topmost road surface cover to the entire southbound carriageway, from the Santa Venera tunnels to the Marsa-Qormi flyover. Over 1,500 tonnes of asphalt will be used for these works. Another 2,400 tonnes were required to lay the penultimate layer, on Saturday.
Similar works to complete the northbound carriageway of the same road will be carried out later next month, between Saturday 13 and Wednesday 17 October.
Through a €5 million project launched earlier this year, the Marsa-Hamrun Bypass was widened to a six-lane road to improve the safety and efficiency of the junctions and slip roads connected to it, eliminating several bottlenecks that caused delays to thousands of road users travelling along this south-central route. This investment is reducing travelling times in this road by 42%, whilst improving the area’s air quality by decreasing congestion emissions.
The Marsa-Hamrun Bypass project, which may be part-financed by the European Union’s Cohesion Fund, was scheduled to be completed in April 2019. However, the new and rebuilt lanes of this road were made available to road users in September. Infrastructure Malta is now planning to complete the project in the coming weeks, several months ahead of schedule.