Before I start on today’s subject, I need to make a correction that appeared as a misprint in last week’s article, as it changed the whole meaning of the sentence. Whereas what went into print read “It is now possible to change the nature of an objective truth even if its concepts are confused by clouding issues in purely emotive subjective opinions” the word now should have read not, which actually gives the whole sentence a different meaning. What a change one little letter makes, let alone a whole word!
The subject I have chosen today deals with the way in which our roads are increasingly becoming clogged up to the point of being useless. This refers especially to our limited “freeways” or – as they are more affectionately known – ‘by-passes’. Every day last week I used the Hamrun by-pass on my way to Marsa. On three occasions there were tail-backs stretching for miles while on the third occasion the tail-backs stretched all the way past Birkirkara and Balzan to Attard. In the first two cases there had been minor bumper-to-bumper automobile accidents which, in any event, were still blocking one of the two lanes as those involved waited for a warden to show up, causing quite a jam. However, on the third and worse day, some PWD employees decided to put up a crash barrier at 10 am, in effect blocking a whole lane. This meant that it took 45 minutes to get to my destination in sweltering heat. I really pitied the cars behind me caught in a funeral procession! With the new school year having now started, this type of work on major roads should be avoided at all costs.
It is time that someone at Transport Malta began to look at the traffic situation in a more pro-active manner. First of all, I suggest that either police officers or traffic wardens or – if these cannot be spared – Transport Malta officials, are detailed daily to the frequently used by-passes, especially in the rush hours, so that if there is an accident it is immediately dealt with and the lane cleared. As it is, when there is an accident it is usually hours before someone shows up to take the details and complete the forms. If traffic personnel are detailed to the major by-passes regularly as a precaution, this waiting time would be quickly reduced, barring in the event of a major accident. This means that the cars involved in are quickly shunted off the road and the congestion is quickly relieved. If this is not done, the money spent on building roads will have been wasted, as our roads are becoming increasingly congested and useless.
What should also be definitely avoided is for PWD or Transport Malta to carry out work on these roads during the day, especially at peak traffic times, when the work could easily be done in the evenings or at night, resulting in far fewer problems. There is a real problem with Aldo Moro Road. When part of this road is blocked, tail-backs build up for miles. When the whole road is blocked, the whole island stops. A few years ago, a truck crashed into the pedestrian bridge and mayhem resulted. In order to get from Paola to my home in Birkirkara, I actually had to go via Dingli and Mtarfa, arriving about three hours later. There needs to be a contingency plan so that when Aldo Moro Road is blocked, alternative plans are immediately put into action and tail-backs avoided.
Sometimes, signage can also be confusing, although this has improved greatly over the years. On the Qormi by-pass, for example, there is a speed camera but none of the signs state what the speed limit is on that particular stretch of road. In Attard it is 50 km/h, out of the tunnels it is 60, but what is the limit on the Qormi by-pass? Some say 60 km/h, some 70 and others 80!
What also bothers me is that many of these roads have collapsed sections requiring repair which at certain speeds may be back-breaking at best and hazardous at worse. These should be seen to immediately. If possible bus stops on major roads should not be allowed to block the whole lane in which they drive. In Sta Venera, the bus stop near St Joseph Home causes all the traffic on the Fleur-de-Lys roundabout to stop for several minutes every time a bus stops there. The road here is too narrow to accommodate a bus stop and too important to block even temporarily. The situation is now so ridiculous that in order to be at work by 8 am, one needs to leave at 7 am for what is supposed to be a 10-minute journey.
A major traffic rationalisation is called for. At the Sta Venera tunnels, cars are being allowed to switch from one lane direction to the opposite one by making u-turns just at the tunnel’s exit point where cars are exiting the tunnels at high speeds and the driver making a u-turn cannot even see the oncoming cars because of the darkness of the tunnel’s interior. This is a major accident waiting to happen! Last week a bus decided to make the u-turn and, not having a big enough turning circle, blocked the tunnel exits for some time! Unless we take these issues more seriously, I sincerely believe that our roads will soon become unusable. We need a more proactive and rational approach to managing our road network!
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