Opening of new Mriehel Underpass
Infrastructure Malta opened the new Mriehel Underpass connecting L-Imdina Road with the Mriehel Bypass, at the junction next to the Malta Financial Services Authority offices (MFSA).
Another uninterrupted connection that crosses over the tunnel in the opposite direction, from L-Imdina Road (Birkirkara) to Attard, will be opened in the coming weeks. The agency is planning to complete Mriehel Underpass Project by the end of the year.
After completing the excavation of this cut-and-cover underpass in February, during the past months the agency's contractors erected 290 precast concrete panels to form its walls and also lifted in place the 16 prestressed concrete beams, each weighing six tonnes, that support the tunnel roof. During the last quarter of 2022, they will conclude the final works in the tunnel and continue the project with the new roundabout above the underpass, as well as new pedestrian and cycling crossings and landscaped areas.
Just like Santa Lucija Roundabout Underpass Project was developed to extend the benefits of Marsa Junction Project along the main route to southern Malta, Infrastructure Malta planned Mriehel Underpass Project to augment the positive impacts of Central Link Project in Attard, Balzan, Birkirkara and Mriehel.
The two-lane 60-metre underpass will form part of a new roundabout intersection that is replacing the old traffic lights system at this important crossroads between Balzan, Birkirkara and Mriehel. Through this tunnel, the main eastbound traffic flows, from L-Imdina Road, Balzan towards the Mriehel Bypass (Royal Malta Artillery Avenue), will be grade-separated from the other flows converging at this junction.
As part of Central Link Project, in 2020 Infrastructure Malta built two new lanes to create an uninterrupted route in the opposite direction, westbound from the Bypass towards Balzan and Attard. By eliminating the principal eastbound (new underpass) and westbound (2020 lanes) flows from the new roundabout, it is becoming quicker and safer for road users travelling to other nearby destinations, including Mriehel, Birkirkara and Zebbug (from Attard, Balzan and Lija).
As it reduces the new roundabout’s design speed and traffic volumes, Mriehel Underpass Project is also enabling the introduction of safer pedestrian and cycling crossings to link Birkirkara, Mriehel and Balzan with Il-Hofor Road, a rural road leading to Zebbug and Qormi. These roundabout crossings will further improve the connections of the four-kilometre cycling and walking infrastructure developed through Central Link Project in Ta’ Qali, Attard and Balzan.