A driver went over wet road paint in Mdina Road; despite the cones and enforcement officers.
Thankfully nobody was hurt. Disregarding signs and barricades may lead to serious consequences. Workers might have been hurt.
A number of road works are carried out at night to cause less inconvenience thus drivers need to be extra cautious
The driver has been identified and charges will be pressed. Damages will run into thousands of euros.
Transport Malta will carry out maintance work in Triq il-Kostituzzjoni Mosta between the roundabout of Tarġa Gap and Mosta Church.
Works will be carried out tonight between 20:00hrs and 05:00hrs.
Traffic, including public transport, northbound will be diverted onto Triq il-Kbira and Triq id-Difiża Ċivili direction to Burmarrad. Traffic southbound will be diverted onto Triq ta’ Żejfa.
If possible avoid the area during these times. Drivers are to follow the signs and instructions by officials on site.
Any inconvenience is regretted.
With reference to the article “Lack of call for Coast Road works ‘serious failure’ to comply with rules – Court of Auditors” published today by the Times of Malta. The article states that, “..there was direct negotiation with one company without prior call for competition for works on the Coast Road”. The statement is incorrect.
There were two public calls for the Coast Road. The tenders, CT 3077/2012 Road works in conjunction with the widening and reconstruction of Coast Road NA 8 to Magħtab and CT 3078/2012 Road works in conjunction with the widening and reconstruction of Coast Road from Maghtab to Commonwealth Cemetery were issued in February 2013. This is all documented at the Department of Contracts.
The cheapest bid amounted to €83million. €30 million over the stipulated budget. Transport Malta negotiated with the cheapest bidder, bringing the bill down to €50 million and saving the whole project. All the negotiations were guided by the Department of Contracts and the public procurement rules in force at the time.
There were two public calls for the Coast Road. The tenders, CT 3077/2012 Road works in conjunction with the widening and reconstruction of Coast Road NA 8 to Magħtab and CT 3078/2012 Road works in conjunction with the widening and reconstruction of Coast Road from Maghtab to Commonwealth Cemetery were issued in February 2013. This is all documented at the Department of Contracts.
The cheapest bid amounted to €83million. €30 million over the stipulated budget. Transport Malta negotiated with the cheapest bidder, bringing the bill down to €50 million and saving the whole project. All the negotiations were guided by the Department of Contracts and the public procurement rules in force at the time.
The cycle lanes at Salina constitute the longest uninterrupted cycle route in Malta and in total is approximately 12.9 km taking a total of approximately 21,800 square metres.
Upon consultation with a number of cyclists groups back in 2013 a discussion was underway on whether the cycle lanes at Salina should be implemented at the same level of the road or elevated. There are advantages and disadvantages associated with both arrangements and these were discussed at the Transport Malta offices in Sa Maison. The cyclists groups wished that the cycle lane would be completely segregated from the road lane with a solid verge in between. The site limitations however did not permit to carry out further widening in the areas in question. Mostly because of the various environmentally sensitive areas along the Coast Road.
In general, there was consensus that the cycle lanes will be better placed at the same level of the road. TM took on this recommendation and the challenge was to plan a cycle lane at the same level of the road within the site limitations imposed at the Coast Road. In general, the factors that were considered were to provide a form of light segregation between the lanes possibly with a buffer zone in between and keep the cycle lane width as close as possible to 1.5 metres. A balance had to be reached between the provision of a lane for cyclists with adequate room to ride without decreasing the recovery area available to errant motor vehicles. AASHTO guide for the development of bicycle facilities recommend a distance of 0.3 metres between the road edge line and the rumble strip. A 38 cm centre to centre distance was implemented at the Salina Coast Road between edge line and rumble strip whilst as stated above maintaining as much as possible adequate widths for the cycle lanes. The widths on site indeed vary according to the alignment at localised areas and the average width is of approximately 1.6 metres. The measured widths throughout the cycle lane in general fall within the recommended widths in Table 7 of the “Transport Malta Technical Guidelines for the Preparation of Road Safety Audits, Road Safety Impact Assessments and Road Safety Inspections”.
The light segregation as implemented on the Coast Road is described in various international publications as an effective way to segregate cycle lanes from road lanes and one of these examples is a recent publication – “International Cycle Infrastructure Best Practice study” commissioned by Transport for London. The configuration of the intermittent thermoplastic paint also referred to as a raised rumble strip was chosen to have a reduced disturbance to cyclists whilst maintaining their function to deter vehicles to go off lane. Hence a 10mm protrusion was chosen as opposed to higher protrusions. This was mentioned in a Conference of European Directors of Roads publication “Forgiving roadside design guide” which refers to NCHRP report 641 in which the configuration of the rumble strip used at the Coast Road is deemed to be less aggressive on cyclists.
The guidelines and reviews available on this subject do not always provide rigid standards but rather suggestions and recommendations that need to be adapted to the site and case in question.
Road Maintenance in Saqqajja Hill Rabat
Transport Malta will be resurfacing part of Saqqajja Hill in Rabat following works on the sewage system.
Works will be carried out between Monday 9 and Saturday 14 November.
Only the carriageway towards Rabat will be open for vehicles between 09:00 and 18:00. Southbound vehicles will use Triq l-Infetti, towards Ta’ Qali.
The road will be completely closed between 19:00 and 05:30 of the following morning. Vehicles will be diverted towards the roundabout between Mosta and Ta’ Qali.
The road will be accessible in both directions between 05:30 and 09:00.
If possible avoid the area during these times. Drivers are to follow the signs and instructions by officials on site.
Any inconvenience is regretted.
Parking will not be allowed in Zone C & D of the Floriana Park and Ride on Wednesday 11, Thursday 12 and Friday 27 November 2015. The rest of the space will be available.
The shuttle service will operate as usual.
Marsa Park and Ride will not be available for parking between Friday 27 at 18:00hrs and Saturday 28 November at 15:00hrs.
Apologies for any inconvenience
Road Maintenance in Triq Nazzjonali Floriana
Transport Malta will be carrying out resurfacing works in Triq Nazzjonali Floriana between Bieb il-Bombi and the offices of the Local Council.
Works will be carried out between today at 18:00hrs and 14:00hrs tomorrow.
The road will be closed to traffic except for the public transport.
If possible avoid the area during these times. Drivers are to follow the signs and instructions by officials on site.
Any inconvenience is regretted.
Resurfacing Works in Triq L-Imdina Ħ’Attard
Road works in Triq l-Imdina Ħ’Attard will continue at night from tomorrow until Monday 9 November between 22:00hrs and 05:00hrs.
The road direction to Valletta will be closed to traffic during these hours. The road will be opened throughout the day.
Drivers are advised to follow the diversion signs.
Repair works on lighting fixtures in Tigne’ tunnel will be carried out tonight. The tunnel will be closed direction to Qui-Si-Sana between 21:00hrs and 05:00hrs.
Traffic from Qui-Si-Sana will be diverted onto the opposite lane towards The Strand. Traffic from Gzira will be diverted onto Triq it-Torri towards Qui-si-Sana.
Motorists are advised to proceed with caution.
Resurfacing works in Triq Għajn Tuffieħa L-Imġarr will continue tomorrow and Saturday afternoon so that the road will be accessible during the rest of weekend.
The road will be closed to traffic between tomorrow at 13:00hrs and Saturday 7 November at 16:00hrs.
Vehicles coming from L-Imġarr will be diverted onto Ta’ Mrejnu to Għajn Tuffieħa. Vehicles coming from Triq Għajn Tuffieha will be diverted onto Triq San Martin to Żebbiegħ.
Please avoid the area during these times whenever possible. Follow signs and directions by officials on site.
We apologise for the inconvenience.
Transport Malta News 
You must be logged in to post a comment.