The background
Even though Malta is the smallest country in the European Union, by both area and population, it certainly punches above its weight. Malta’s world famous megalithic temples are claimed to be the oldest free-standing stone structures in the world. The country is also one of the most popular film locations, and big productions such as Gladiator and Pirates of the Caribbean were shot there.
Unfortunately, it is also well known for being the EU country with the third highest number of passenger cars per inhabitant and this does not make things easy for the country’s road infrastructure.
It was no coincidence that Malta hosted the Valletta Declaration meeting, in which the 28 EU transport ministers confirmed their commitment to improving road safety. One year later, the Maltese authorities opened the newly rebuilt Kappara junction, one of the key links on the Maltese road network.
The challenge
The Kappara junction was an existing at-grade roundabout linking Triq Mikiel Anton Vassalli running north to south and Triq Tas Sliema running east to west. It is located in the north-central part of Malta, between the towns of San Gwann, San Julian and Gzira. The junction had four arms and at peak periods was severely congested due to conflicting traffic movements and its limited capacity.
This junction had frequent traffic jams during the morning and evening peak periods and was one of the busiest areas of Malta, with about 90,000 vehicles per day crossing it. Consequently, the existing roundabout was no longer suitable for accommodating these traffic volumes and an investment into road infrastructure was required.
The action
The Roads and Infrastructure Directorate of Transport Malta decided to upgrade the existing roundabout to a grade-separated junction with free-flow conditions maintained for the main line (Triq Mikiel Anton Vassalli) and asked for JASPERS’ assistance during preparation of the junction improvement project.
JASPERS assisted through different technical profiles and tasks included:
· Assistance in development and assessment of different options for the junction upgrade, examining different roundabout configurations including their road safety implications;
· Assistance in interpretation of the traffic studies and modelling so that the benefits of the preferred option for Kappara junction could be appraised;
· Review of the socio-economic performance of the project, taking into account several critical variables such as savings in travel time, vehicle operating costs, safety and environmental costs;
· Assistance in drafting the terms of reference for an environmental consultant responsible for preparing an Environmental Planning Statement and Appropriate Assessment in order to ensure environmental acceptability of the new Kappara junction.
The results
The new junction layout provides free flow traffic movement on one of the busiest sections of the Maltese road network. The junction upgrade includes a new overpass for the minor junction arms, with new intersections on Triq Tas Sliema and adjoining road sections between the Tal-Qroqq Tunnel in the south and the junction with the Triq Reggie Miller in the north.
Road users and local residents benefit from improved journey times and improved accessibility between key Maltese localities.
Finally, they travel more safely thanks to the corresponding improvements introduced.