Infrastructure Malta has said that “technical complications” during overnight roadworks caused a massive traffic jam affected thousands on Wednesday morning.
Thousands found themselves mired in winding traffic jams early on Wednesday, with the traffic snaking from St Julian’s all the way to Corradino Hill some 8 kilometres away.
This was caused by the road between the tunnel leading to Paceville and the Paceville traffic lights being closed to traffic, with cars being diverted towards Spinola instead.
Infrastructure Malta said in a Facebook post that “technical complications” arose during roadworks in the area of the Swieqi/St Julian’s junction which resulted in a delay in the reopening of the area to traffic.
The works were planned to take place between 7pm on Tuesday and 5:30am on Wednesday, but the road was only reopened to traffic at around 8:30am.
Transport Minister Chris Bonett gave more details about why the road remain closed, saying that the complications were related to the laying of concrete. He said that the contractor responsible for the works will “shoulder responsibility”, though he said that he understood that sometimes complications arise while works take place.
Infrastructure Malta said that “these works form part of a wider reinforcement and resurfacing intervention plan happening in off peak hours across Malta, generally targeting arterial and distributor roads where surface deterioration and weaknesses are identified.”
“After a thorough inspection and verification by Infrastructure Malta's professionals, the stretch of road in question was reopened for vehicular traffic few hours later than planned which led to this morning's traffic,” the agency said.
“We apologise for the inconvenience caused,” Infrastructure Malta said.
Bonett also commented on a build-up in traffic around the Islamic Mosque in Paola, where Eid al-Fitr holiday was being celebrated by Muslims. He said that this is why there was an influx of traffic in the area, and said that Transport Malta had a strong presence of officials to try and direct traffic, but some lanes in the hill next to the Mosque still ended up being blocked.
“The enforcement officers do not have the power to physically remove people from the road and that’s why they needed the involvement of the police, which is why the situation took some time to get back to normal,” Bonett wrote.
He apologised for any inconvenience which was created and said that the government is working to improve the situation. “Unfortunately incidents like today’s happen, even though we are doing our utmost for them to be rarer,” he said.
The Nationalist Party meanwhile said in a statement that it would ensure “serious and effective” traffic management, that “a thousand roads won’t be closed at once” and that there will be incentives and investments which encourage alternative transport which will allow people to arrive at their destination more efficiently.
PN leader Bernard Grech said on social media that after 11 years and €700 million spent, the traffic situation has become worse than it was. He blamed the government’s lack of planning and lack of traffic management for this.