Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/298224
TIM ATTARD MONTALTO MCDONALD'S will be funding the deployment of traffic police cur- rently engaged in facilitating traf- fic f low during peak hours outside the newly-opened McDrive outlet in Gharghur, a spokesperson for the company has told this news- paper. Amid widespread criticism from commuters that the new McDon- ald's outlet was the prime cause for heavy traffic congestion at the roundabout junction of Triq tal- Balal and Triq Santa Katerina in Gharghur, the company said that it would be helping to pay for proper traffic control in the area in an at- tempt to improve the traffic f low. McDonald's said that it was "com- mitted to ensuring the congestion is not aggravated" by the presence of the outlet, with the hope that "customers, residents and com- muters at large are not unduly in- convenienced". The Gharghur branch was offi- cially opened on 7 April, with the eatery capable of seating 172 pa- trons. It is the tenth McDonald's outlet to be opened in Malta, but the new addition gained unwanted scrutiny after widespread public reports claimed that the drive-thru had intensified traffic congestion in the area. MaltaToday last week revealed inconsistencies in the conclusions of a Traffic Impact Study (TIS) car- ried out for the new outlet. The TIS, which was carried out by Transport Malta and presented in January 2013 prior to the ap- proval of the outlet, stated that the Gharghur roundabout, located just metres away from the McDrive, was already failing to keep up with traffic f lows. By contrast, it deemed that the increased traffic generated by the drive-thru would represent "a rela- tively small part of the total traffic" in the area. Contacted during the week, Transport Malta claimed that works on the roundabout were re- quired but that this was mainly due to network traffic growth and not as a direct result of the McDonald's outlet. However, within hours of pub- lishing the article, the MaltaToday Facebook page was swamped with comments from the public, with hundreds of people expressing their frustration and anger at the situation. Almost all of the comments con- firmed that the outlet had indeed created heavy traffic congestion problems. "It was already a big traffic prob- lem… now it's a disaster" one com- ment read. Another disgruntled commuter simply said: "Too much. There is always too much" in a clear reference to the traffic issues which Malta faces. Another person said that she had finished work du- ty at 8pm "dead tired, only to find traffic at a standstill". Transport Malta and MEPA were the prime targets in a forum which was shared by dozens of people. The authorities were widely criti- cised for the lack of proper plan- ning, while even McDonald's menu could not avoid the line of fire. On their part, McDonald's said that the company was "compliant with all legislation and regulations" and that "its operations respect the parameters contained in assess- ments compiled independently by the authorities". News maltatoday, SUNDAY, 20 APRIL 2014 Our reputation for reliability and trust Our reputation for reliability and trust comes from over 1000 customers serviced in just over 12 months. We're Express Logigroup and we create industry freight solutions. We operate a lean, non-bureaucratic organization so our customers may truly feel that we're partners in business. Jonathan Vella CEO We'll load it. We'll move it. We'll keep it simple. …no package size or weight limitations ! McDonald's fund deployment of traffic police in Gharghur