The narrow dirt road that goes through the island of Comino is set to be widened, after plans by Infrastructure Malta were approved by the Planning Authority today.
As part of the plans, the dirt road will be transformed into a four-kilometre-long, six-lane, bi-directional highway, complete with a petrol station/supermarket/café complex and a subway under the road.
The islands of Comino and Cominotto will also be connected via a new bridge spanning the picturesque Blue Lagoon.
The project is expected to cost a total of €2.5 million, and will be carried out by J Portelli Projects.
Infrastructure Malta chairman Frederick Azzopardi insisted that the works were desperately needed to anticipate any future increases in traffic on the island.
“Comino currently has three permanent inhabitants. If the population increases by just one person, that represents an increase of 25 percent, which will put a huge strain on the existing road network,” he said.
Very little agricultural land will be taken up by the expansion, a point that Azzopardi was keen to highlight.
“You can’t accuse us of destroying fields with this one. It’s mostly just karst and shrubland. No one cares about shrubland. Except maybe lizards but they haven’t lodged any objections. So we’re cool, yeah? Good.”
Infrastructure Minister Ian Borg, who was also present at the press conference, was similarly eager to justify the project.
“The project is one that is essential and is certainly not just a way for me to give favours to developers. I mean, it has a cycle lane.
“Well, I say cycle lane. We’re going to paint some pictures of bicycles on the side of the road and hope for the best,” he said.
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