THE FOUNDATION, IN COLLABORATION WITH INFRASTRUCTURE MALTA, CONTINUED WORKING ON THE ROAD WORKS WITHIN THE CENTRAL BUSINESS DISTRICT. BESIDES THE RE-SURFACING OF TRIQ L-ARTIGJANAT, WORKS COMMENCED WITH THE CONSTRUCTION OF A NEW ROAD CONNECTING THE
CENTRAL BUSINESS DISTRICT (FORMALLY KNOWN AS ‘MRIEHEL INDUSTRAL ESTATE’) WITH TRIQ IL-KANUN, QORMI.
The new stretch of road forms part of two existing roads, Triq L-Intornjatur, in parallel with the Mriehel Bypass, and Triq l-Industrija, corner with Triq Il-Kanun. This connection has been included in development plans for many years, but was never built, restricting access to and from the Central Business District and nearby residential areas. Infrastructure Malta is now building this road to create a new link in the District which forms parts of Birkirkara, Qormi and Santa Venera.
The building of this stretch of road, extending over half a kilometre, also includes new storm water catchments and pipelines, new underground networks, a new LED street lighting system and pavements. The two roads leading to it and their footpaths will be upgraded as well.
AS HAD BEEN COMMUNICATED EARLIER, THE CBD FOUNDATION WAS SUCCESSFUL IN SETTING UP A DEDICATED BUS ROUTE FOR CBD. TO DO THIS, THE CBD HAD TO RE-ORGANISE TRAFFIC IN THE AREA TO MAKE SURE THAT THE BUS ROUTE WAS NOT HAMPERED BY BOTTLENECKS.
The bus leaves the Park and Ride terminus in Marsa four minutes past the hour every hour. The first bus leaves at 06:04. The bus moves up along Triq il-Kanun and turns left at the BOV Head Quarters onto Triq l-Mdina. The bus then turns left at Triq il-Merghat and moves anticlockwise along Triq l-Esportaturi, Triq is-Salib tal-Imriehel and back onto Triq il-Kanun. The details of Bus Route 64 may be retrieved from www.publictransport.com.mt/en/route/64. We encourage our readers to make use of this
service to continue to alleviate traffic congestion within the CBD. The Foundation would like to thank the Ministry of Transport, Infrastructure and Capital Projects together with the Malta Public Transport for their support towards this project.
The installation of the large format maps is ongoing.
In the meantime, the Foundation is working on directional signage and this exercise is currently in the design stage. This project forms an integral part of the signage scheme in the area.
The door-to-door waste collection service continued throughout all this year. Three collections per week are carried out. To date the total amount of waste collected since January 2017 amounts to 2,268 tons. Besides the door-to-door collection, a street sweeping schedule is being carried out three times weekly. Finally, new Waste Bins have been installed in several areas of the Central Business District to reduce the littering problem. All this work has been funded by the Foundation.
The LED Street Lighting Works continued as planned. To date, out of 361 street lamps, 247 have been installed. Another 61 street lamps will be installed once construction works are concluded. The remaining 53 lamps will be installed in the coming weeks since some trenching works need to take place.
