A contractor has been fined by Transport Malta for an error that led to a major traffic jam across Malta this morning.

Early this morning, motorists received an official message from transport authorities telling them to avoid the Santa Venera tunnels after a botched job caused traffic to grind to a halt.

The contractor had cleared out a water culvert in the tunnel last night ahead of a resurfacing job this morning – however, in the meantime, a steel plate had been placed over it. Within hours, the steel cover had shifted, exposing the culvert and forcing traffic to file into a single lane.

Traffic was reported widely from Żebbuġ all the way to Marsa, with some reporting delays of over an hour.

Infrastructure Malta stepped in to reopen both lanes within the tunnel, but many motorists were still left fuming at the delays. Aside from the fine from Transport Malta, Infrastructure Malta will be launching legal action against the contractor, Times of Malta reported.

Cover photo right: Malta Road Traffic Updates

Were you stuck in traffic this morning?