Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1534619
MATTHEW FARRUGIA mfarrugia@mediatoday.com.mt 12 maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 23 APRIL 2025 NEWS TRANSPORT Malta and In- frastructure Malta have revised their plans for a road linking Żabbar to Smart City, substi- tuting a planned four-lane road with a two-lane road. The new link road will start from Żabbar's Notre Dame Gate, also known as Bieb is-Sultan, and will undulate be- neath the Cottonera fortifica- tions until it reaches Kalkara's Capuchin Convent. The new designs drastically reduce the amount of agricul- tural land that was originally going to be gobbled up by the new road. On Tuesday, IM said the pro- ject also aims to upgrade ex- isting roads that connect the convent to the Kalkara foot- ball ground, down to the Malta Film Studios and the entrance to Smart City. Apart from the two-lane road for cars, the pro- ject will also include a cycling and walking lane. During a press briefing it was explained that while Transport Malta's original plan consisted of utilising some 14,500sq.m of agricultural land, the new project will utilise around 5,686sq.m of agricultural land, 2,657sq.m of which are cur- rently concreted. The project is estimated to cost around €8 million. The plan will also see the re- moval of 30 trees and shrubs, but TM says the project will see the planting of 40 new indige- nous species. The project's necessity, ac- cording to TM, rises from the fact that in order to travel to Smart City from the North, traffic must pass through res- idential zones and is currently creating congestion problems. The planned works are also set to be done close to a num- ber of scheduled historic struc- tures such as Notre Dame Gate, the bastions that separate Cot- tonera from Żabbar, and the Capuchin Convent in Kalkara. TM and IM said that the pro- ject will take between three and four years to complete. The agreement with the American University of Mal- ta to transfer its campus from Żonqor to Smart City was ap- proved by parliament in 2022. It also obliges the government to construct a new connection road linking Bieb is-Sultan in Żabbar, to the Capuchin's con- vent in Kalkara. Road linking Zabbar to Smart City to cost €8m Visuals of the new link road presented by Infrastructure Malta