The first of seven flyovers at the busy Marsa junction will be opened for traffic by the end of this summer, Transport and Infrastructure Minister Ian Borg said on Wednesday.

Speaking during a visit to the site of the works on the junction, Borg noted that some 120,000 vehicles pass through the Marsa junction on a daily basis, and said that this is the single biggest infrastructural project which the country has ever seen and will serve to eliminate the bottlenecks of the area.

The minister said that the third phase of the project, which is the construction of the seven flyovers, is well underway with the huge beams that will make up the flyover being laid.  The first phase was the relocation of the factories previously occupying the site to Hal-Far while the second was the increase of capacity on Aldo Moro street up to ten lanes.

The first bridge will be the one which runs between Aldo Moro street and Garibaldi street, which runs in the direction of the Malta International Airport.  Beams for this bridge, which are fabricated and made in a plant right across from the site hence eliminating inconvenience and the danger of transporting them, are in the process of being laid.

Traffic on the bridge will, due to diversions, be initially running opposite to what the final plans show; meaning that traffic will flow from Garibaldi street to Aldo Moro street.  However, once the project is completed, the traffic on this bridge will flow in the opposite direction, southbound.

All 7 flyovers, when complete, will be around 1.1km long, and will have 42 pillars and 350 beams. The project will include cycle lanes, sewage systems, stormwater culverts, the laying of underground electricity cables, footpaths and more. The project also includes a 380 park-and-ride car park and a few footbridges with lifts.

The project is on schedule and is moving forward as per the stipulated budget as well, Borg told the media.

Photos Alenka Falzon