The tunnel which connects 250 university parking spaces to the rest of the campus will opened in the coming weeks, according to Transport Malta.

The parking spaces were cut off and students lost pedestrian access to university when the tunnel was closed due to works on the Kappara junction.

Works on the tunnel were completed some weeks ago but the road remained closed after the University of Malta asked Transport Malta to also widen the road leading to it.

While the tunnel was not originally part of the Kappara project, TM had decided to rebuild it to improve the infrastructure of the site, with the aim of optimising access and safety for those who make use of it.

The authority said the new tunnel is much wider, catering better for University’s needs. Following a request by university, the road is being widened, with the works expected to be completed in the next few weeks.

Back in October 2017 this newspaper had received reports from students where many had no choice but to park in areas such as Swatar, San Gwann and even as far as Birkirkara. The Malta Independent had reported how students were forced to start looking for parking as early as 7:30am even if their lectures started at 10am.

Since then no additional parking spaces have been offered to students, with only a carpooling scheme created, by the university student body (KSU), running at certain times in the morning in a section of the main car park.