Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1181922
NEWS maltatoday | SUNDAY • 3 NOVEMBER 2019 MASSIMO COSTA THE Gudja roundabout out- side Malta International Air- port will be ugraded to a multi-level intersection with two tunnels and a flyover, for improved access to the Kirkop Tunnels, Gudja, the airport and the freeport. The Kirkop Tunnels and Airport Intersection Project (KTAIP), to start in 2020, in- cludes the redevelopment of this critical junction of the Maltese road network to re- duce travel times and accident risks to commuters travelling through the Kirkop Tunnels, to and from Kirkop, Mqabba, Qrendi, Zurrieq and Safi, Infra- structure Malta said yesterday. The Gudja roundabout is a crossroads of several arterial roads, including L-Avjazzjoni Avenue, to and from Luqa, Marsa and Qormi, Dawret il- Gudja Road, towards Gudja and Ghaxaq, Hal Far Road, to and from Hal Far, the Freeport and Birzebbuga, and L-Ewwel Titjira Road, which links the roundabout with the Kirkop Tunnels. It also includes Il- Karwija Road, leading to the airport. This project will transform the roundabout into a grade- separated intersection with direct connections to and from the different routes converging at this junction. At the lower level, two new tunnels beneath the rounda- bout will create a direct link between the southbound and northbound carriageways of L- Avjazzjoni Avenue and Hal Far Road. These tunnels will allow road users, including heavy vehi- cles, travelling to and from the airport, Birzebbuga, the Free- port and the Hal Far Industrial Zone, to bypass the rounda- bout. The existing roundabout will be rebuilt in an improved de- sign to facilitate access to and from Gudja and Ghaxaq. The existing bypass lane for north- bound travel from the Kirkop Tunnels to L-Avjazzjoni Av- enue will be improved to con- tinue cutting journey times along this route as well. The third level of the inter- section will incorporate a new flyover bridging the south- bound carriageway of L-Av- jazzjoni Avenue with L-Ew- wel Titjira Road, towards the Kirkop Tunnels. Commuters heading to Kirkop, Mqabba, Qrendi, Zurrieq and Safi will no longer need to go through the roundabout to get to the Kirkop Tunnels. By channelling three of the routes currently connected through the roundabout to the underpass and overpass lanes, Infrastructure Malta said it will be reducing roundabout con- flicts and resulting collision risks, and waiting times for thousands of road users who use this junction every day. The KTAIP will include more facilities for alternative modes of travel. "In fact, the new in- tersection design includes new footpaths and improved public transport amenities. The pro- ject also comprises new safe cycle routes that will comple- ment the cycle lane opened at L-Avjazzjoni Avenue last year and the cycling and pedestri- an overpass that the agency is currently constructing along the same thoroughfare. The roundabout's new design will include facilities for safer pe- destrian and cycling cross- ings," IM said. Project plans were submitted to the Planning Authority this week. In 2019, the agency will be in- vesting €64 million in over 14 arterial road upgrades. They include the first flyovers of the Marsa Junction Project, the re- construction of Buqana Road, Tal-Balal Road, Luqa Road, Qormi Road and San Tumas Road, the development of new pedestrian and cycling over- pass structures at Blata l-Baj- da and L-Avjazzjoni Avenue, and Malta's first segregated bi-directional cycle track at L- Ahhar Hbit mit-Torok Road, between Zabbar and Zejtun. Gudja flyover project to start in 2020 This project will transform the roundabout into a grade-separated intersection with direct connections to and from the different routes converging at this junction