Work on Pembroke junction to start in coming weeks
Work will soon be starting to improve a dangerous and busy junction leading into Pembroke from Triq Sant’ Andrija in the St Andrew’s-Swieqi area
by Massimo Costa
Work will soon be starting to improve a dangerous and busy junction leading into Pembroke from Triq Sant’ Andrija in the St Andrew’s-Swieqi area.
The work will see the junction upgraded through the installation of a roundabout which will connect traffic travelling on Triq Sant’ Andrija to Triq Sir Adrian Dingli in Pembroke and High Ridge in Madliena.
The project will be complementing another bigger infrastructural undertaking, the Pembroke-St Julian’s Connections project, which is planned to start by the end of 2020.
Infrastructure Malta CEO Frederick Azzopardi told BusinessToday that the work on the Pembroke junction would be starting in the coming weeks, however, because permits for that section of the project are already in hand.
Azzopardi said that the improvement of the Pembroke junction is necessary not only to alleviate traffic jams in the area, but also because the current junction itself is dangerous, especially for drivers seeking to exit from Triq Sir Adrian Dingli in Pembroke into Triq Sant’ Andrija towards Baħar iċ-Ċagħaq, who currently have to cross oncoming traffic.
“When it comes to the Pembroke-St Julian’s project, there are parts of it for which we already have permits, and therefore work will start immediately. It’s not only an issue of traffic, but also a matter of intervening immediately due to the danger of the current Pembroke junction,” he said.
The application (3216/17) for the Pembroke junction project has already been approved by the Planning Authority, therefore giving the green light for the work to start shortly.
According to the case officer’s report in the application, the junction is currently unorganised and not safe, besides contributing to traffic congestion as a means of access and exit into and from Triq Sir Adrian Dingli, and Triq Sant’ Andrija.
Works will involve the construction of a roundabout, new road markings, the formation of a new road, and the widening of Triq San Patrizju by one carriageway, as well as the formation of two landscaping barges between the proposed roundabout and Triq Sir Adrian Dingli.
On the other hand, the planning application (6089/19) for the wider Pembroke-St Julian’s project is currently being re-screened by the PA, Azzopardi said, and work is underway in connection with a cost-benefit analysis, a traffic impact assessment, together with consultations involving the Environment Resources Authority and other stakeholders.
Pembroke-St Julian’s project next biggest after Marsa
Azzopardi said the Pembroke-St Julian’s Connections projects would be the biggest infrastructural undertaking after the Marsa junctions project.
He said he envisaged its cost to be similar to that of the €70 million Marsa project, and that it would likely take at least two years to complete.
The goal, he said, was to start it by the end of next year.
“The aim of the Pembroke-St Julian’s project is to decrease emissions and traffic and improve safety on our roads,” he said, highlighting that the project was one of the seven projects which Gordon Cordina said would in total benefit Malta’s economy to the tune of €1.2 billion.
In the absence of the project, planned or ongoing high-rise developments in the area would undoubtedly lead to the development of nightmarish gridlocks.
The project is expected to see the development of four new tunnels and the reconstruction and widening of St Andrew’s road, and in its entirety will extend from the Coast Road to Regional Road, before the Manwel Dimech Bridge.
