Infrastructure Malta recently announced plans for a new road junction in Paceville, at the intersection between Swieqi and St Julian’s. The initial plans and renders published are extremely concerning. This project, worth between €40 and €50 million in public funds, seems to be yet another car-centric project that will neither alleviate traffic in the long term, nor cater for the needs of anyone except car users.

Various people – working people, young people, the elderly, and those with certain disabilities – are particularly dependent on public transport to travel, yet the plans seem to include no bus lanes and very limited connections for pedestrians and cyclists. Given that four lanes of the project are dedicated almost exclusively to cars, space is clearly not the issue.

We would like to remind policymakers that only about 52% of Malta’s total population has a Maltese driving licence, meaning that such a car-centric project is only catering for about half the population. Our current transport model is not only incredibly inefficient, but also grossly unjust, prioritising cars over all other means of transport, and so the needs of some people over others. It is completely unacceptable that these plans seem to make no provisions for those reliant on public transport, and very little provisions for pedestrians and cyclists.

Furthermore, this infrastructure is partly intended to cater to the traffic demands of new developments in the area. These include Joseph Portelli’s Mercury Tower and the PX Lettings’ tower – both of which are in the immediate vicinity – as well as the DB project on the former ITS site and Garnet Investments Limited’s proposed mega-development on the Villa Rosa site. This means that infrastructure which ultimately serves the profits of property speculators is being financed using public funds. The government should not be beholden to business interests and their traffic woes, and paying taxpayer’s money to accommodate their profits is obscene.

We urge the authorities to redesign the project by taking into consideration questions of justice and equity. The project in its current form does not look towards the future, but effectively towards the past, based on an outdated approach to traffic management and a car-centric vision that does not take public or active transport into account. We would like to ask why, after so many major road projects and traffic still at a stand-still, does the government keep pursuing the same expensive, failed solutions? Major projects at Marsa, Kappara and elsewhere have only functioned to create more demand for cars or shifted bottlenecks elsewhere. An effective approach to traffic management requires a break with this strategy in favour of prioritising other means of transport, namely public transport, but also walking and cycling. We hope that any consultation taking place listens to people’s concerns and suggestions and takes them seriously into account.

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Erġgħu Fasslu mill-Ġdid il-Pjanti tal-Junction bejn is-Swieqi u San Ġiljan

Infrastructure Malta dan l-aħħar ħabbret il-pjanijiet tagħha għal road junction ġdida f’Paceville, fl-intersezzjoni bejn is-Swieqi u San Ġiljan. L-ewwel pjanijiet u renders li ġew ippubblikati huma estremament inkwetanti. Dan il-proġett, li ser jiswa bejn l-€40 u l-€50 miljun mill-fondi pubbliċi, jidher li huwa proġett ieħor ibbażat fuq l-użu tal-karozzi, li bih la se jittaffa t-traffiku fuq medda ta’ żmien twil, u lanqas ħa jaħseb għall-bżonnijiet ta’ ħadd ħlief dawk li jużaw il-karozzi.

Nies li jaħdmu, żgħażagħ, anzjani, u anke dawk b’ċertu diżabbiltajiet huma partikolarment dipendenti fuq it-trasport pubbliku sabiex jivvjaġġaw minn post għall-ieħor. Iżda fil-pjanijiet li ġew ippubblikati ma jidhirx li ħa jiġu inklużi l-karreġġjati tal-karozzi tal-linja, u jidher ukoll li ser ikun hemm aċċess limitat għal nies mixjin fit-triq u kif ukoll għaċ-ċiklisti. Minħabba li l-erba’ karreġġjati tal-proġett ser jintużaw kważi kollha u esklussivament għall-karozzi, huwa ċar li l-problema mhijiex l-ispazju.

Nixtiequ nfakkru lil dawk li jfasslu l-politika li madwar 52% biss mit-total tal-popolazzjoni Maltija għandha liċenzja tas-sewqan. Dan ifisser li proġett li hu daqshekk ibbażat fuq l-użu tal-karozzi qiegħed jakkomoda biss madwar nofs il-popolazzjoni. Il-mudell tat-trasport attwali tagħna mhux biss jixhed ineffiċjenza, iżda huwa wkoll inġust fuq skala kbira. Dan għax jagħti prijorità lill-karozzi fuq il-mezzi l-oħra kollha tat-trasport, u għalhekk il-ħtiġijiet ta’ xi nies qed jiġu l-ewwel qabel ta’ oħrajn. Huwa kompletament inaċċettabbli li dawn il-pjanijiet donnhom ma juru l-ebda konsiderazzjoni għal dawk li jiddependu fuq it-trasport pubbliku, u ftit li xejn jew xejn konsiderazzjoni għal nies li jimxu fit-triq u ċ-ċiklisti.

Barra minn hekk, din l-infrastruttura hija parzjalment maħsuba biex tilqa’ għall-problemi tat-traffiku li ġabu, u se jkomplu jġibu, l-iżviluppi ġodda fiż-żona. Dawn jinkludu l-Mercury Tower ta’ Joseph Portelli u t-torri tal-PX Lettings – it-tnejn li huma qegħdin fil-viċinanza immedjata – kif ukoll il-proġett tad-DB fuq l-eks sit tal-ITS, u l-iżvilupp enormi li qed jiġi propost minn Garnet Investments Limited fuq is-sit ta’ Villa Rosa. Dan ifisser li l-infrastruttura, li fl-aħħar mill-aħħar qed tpaxxi l-profitti tal-ispekulaturi tal-proprjetà, qed tiġi ffinanzjata mill-fondi pubbliċi. Id-dover ta-Gvern m’għandux ikun lejn l-interessi tan-negozju u l-problemi tat-traffiku li l-istess negozju jġib miegħu, u huwa oxxen li jintużaw il-flus tat-taxxi tal-poplu sabiex jiġu akkomodati l-interessi kummerċjali tal-ispekulaturi.

B’hekk inħeġġu lill-awtoritajiet biex ifasslu mill-ġdid il-proġett u din id-darba jikkunsidraw il-prinċipji tal-ġustizzja u l-ekwità. Il-proġett preżenti ma jħarisx lejn il-futur, iżda jreġġa’ l-arloġġ lura għall-passat, hekk kif huwa bbażat fuq approċċ antikwat fir-rigward tal-ġestjoni tat-traffiku u fuq viżjoni li tpoġġi l-karozza privata fiċ-ċentru u tinjora kompletament it-trasport pubbliku jew dak attiv. Nixtiequ nistaqsu għaliex, wara tant proġetti kbar ta’ toroq li ma solvewx il-kwistjoni tat- traffiku, il-Gvern xorta jibqa’ juża l-istess soluzzjonijiet li jqumu ħafna flus u li huwa evidenti li ma jaħdmux? Proġetti kbar bħal dawk tal-Marsa, il-Kappara u bnadi oħra wasslu biss biex ħolqu aktar domanda għall-karozzi fit-toroq u ħolqu konġestjonijiet ta’ traffiku fi nħawi oħra. Azzjoni effettiva għall-ġestjoni tat-traffiku tirrikjedi li nwarrbu din l-istrateġija, u nħarsu lejn li jiġu prijoritizzati mezzi oħra tat-trasport, fosthom it-trasport pubbliku, il-mixi u r-rota. Nittamaw li kull konsultazzjoni li qed issir tisma’ t-tħassib u s-suġġerimenti tan-nies, u tiżinhom bis-serjetà.