Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1124848
6 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 2 JUNE 2019 JAMES DEBONO THE Environment and Re- sources Authority has once again expressed its concern on the permanent loss of 48,466sq.m of good qual- ity agricultural land and 549 trees, including 272 protected trees, as a result of the con- troversial Central Link pro- ject. While noting that the pro- ject is meant to alleviate traf- fic and congestion with the intention of improving air quality, in its final report the environmental watchdog in- sisted that the negative im- pacts of the project remain of "significant concern". Moreover, the ERA is also insisting that the traffic re- duction issue must be tackled at a "strategic level" through "sustainable measures that ef- fectively reduce dependence on car transport". The environmental im- pact assessment (EIA) of the project had warned that the project does not effectively address the ever-increasing quantity of licensed vehi- cles on the Maltese roads. It also refers to various scien- tific articles which explain that whilst road-widening schemes in urban areas are often proposed as a solution to traffic congestion, there is "clear evidence that new or expanded roads rapidly fill with displaced or induced traffic, offsetting any short- term gains in eased traffic flows". In its report ERA fell short of giving its consent to the project insisting that the con- ditions presented for inclu- sion in the permit were being done "without prejudice" to its concerns. This contrasts with ERA's stance on other projects like the revised Townsquare high- rise in Sliema, where it ulti- mately declared that "it does not object to the proposal from an environmental point of view". In this case ERA's fi- nal report does not include an objection. Other negative impacts highlighted by ERA include the generation of 195,000sq.m of inert waste, construction noise and vibration impacts on residential areas and traf- fic noise impacts on sensitive residential receptors along the new Attard Bypass. The ERA report does refer to a cost-benefit analysis car- ried out in June 2018 which states that a lack of interven- tions in the area will reach a state of gridlock by 2028 and that the network in this area is characterised by large vol- umes of traffic and congestion that lead to long travel times and high vehicular emissions within the locality, often ex- ceeding threshold limits. The Central link project The project will include the modification of several exist- ing junctions to cater for the increase in the number of lanes and the construction of the Attard Bypass. It will improve the traffic flow through Attard through the conversion of Triq in- Nutar Zarb from a single car- riageway bidirectional road, to a unidirectional road. The existing Triq In-Nutar Zarb will cater for eastbound vehicles travelling towards Mriehel, with the proposed unidirectional Attard By- pass accommodating vehicles travelling in a westbound di- rection towards Rabat. NEWS Negative impacts of Central Link project 'of significant concern' to Environment and Resources Authority ERA: Clear evidence widened roads rapidly fill with induced traffic The current bi-directional Triq Nutar Zarb will be turned into a uni-directional road, forcing the creation of a new road into the surrounding fields joining up to the main Rabat thoroughfare