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Rota Blasts Marsalforn Road Atrocity, Says It Won’t Make Travel Safer

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A Maltese cycling NGO lambasted the Victoria-Marsalforn road project, saying it will not only destroy Gozo’s greenery but its problematic design will make it unsafer for everyone.

“We believe there is no need to widen the Marsalforn Road, and instead use other measures to make the road safer, more pleasant, and greener,” the group said in a statement. 

“We disagree with labelling the road to Marsalforn as “very unsafe for non-motorised transportation. While it is true that it needs a good resurface, and adequate lighting, it will become mostly unsafe only once this widening is done.”

They also explained how the straighter road design will essentially encourage more speed and create more potential for accidents.

“The straighter design will invite for more speed and create unnecessary conflict, with most bicycle users likely to simply ignore the facility due to its futility, inefficiency, and wrong sense of safety involved in jolting in and out of the road several times in one stretch of road.”

In an unsurprising move, the controversial project was given the green light to build through untouched, agricultural land in Gozo to link Victoria, Gozo’s capital, to the seaside town of Marsalforn.

Despite concerns about what critics are calling “an environmental massacre” Gozo Minister Clint Camilleri broke his pledge to revise the plans for the €9 million road widening project between Victoria and Marsalforn in Gozo.

report by The Shift News stated that the Gozo Ministry has already awarded the €9 million tender to Prax Ltd, a company owned by developer Joseph Portelli and his associates, Daniel Refalo and Mark Agius.

Rota called for the plans to go back to the drawing board, making these proposals: 

“It only makes sense to redesign the road to an actual living street with many traffic calming measures and dieting down the lane widths, which automatically enforces a lower speed limit by design.”

“Lightly segregated bicycle lanes help boost safety, and can be easily attainable by narrowing the oversized road  – the opposite of widening by tens of thousands of square metres – and go around the trees where minimal pinch points exist,” they said.

This will ensure Gozo begins to tap into its potential as a cycling island.

“Gozo’s extremely short distances have a huge potential to become a cycling island. Commuting routes in between most of the villages are not greatly steep either, however, pedal-assisted bicycles will solve that anyway.”

Do you agree with Rota?

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Sam is a journalist, artist and writer based in Malta. Send her pictures of hands or need-to-know stories on politics or art on [email protected].

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