More cars will cancel out Central Link project benefits

Reductions in travel time and vehicle emissions as a result of the planned Central Link road upgrade project will be largely cancelled out by increases in the number of cars in the coming decades, environmental studies show. An environmental impact assessment, seen by Times of Malta, concludes that the €55-million project between Ta’ Qali and Attard will prevent total gridlock and “alarming” levels of emissions within the next 10 years. Infrastructure Malta says the project will halve travel time and improve air quality but data shows that, with thousands of additional cars added to the stretch of road in the same time period, the upgrade alone will not be enough to improve on the current state of affairs, merely to maintain the status quo. Traffic studies forming part of the EIA found that if the upgrade was not carried out, peak morning travel times would increase nearly three times over by 2030 and more than eight times over by 2045. Read: Three-quarters support Central Link project, minister says Even with the project in place, travel times will not be reduced below 2019 levels and will, in fact, increase marginally. Similarly, air quality studies indicate that pollutant...