Victoria Local Council recently sent their proposals to the Minister of Finance regarding a new ring road and parking spaces in Victoria. The Proposals are shown below:

Proposition - Construction of an alternative route around Victoria (ring-road) and the increase in the number of parking facilities within the City.

Insertion / addition - Chapter 10 (Gozo), sub-measure 'Transport'

Rationale - Improve inter-island traffic flows by improving access to and around Victoria.

The laudable investment being undertaken by Government to improve access from the Port to the outskirts of Victoria and from the outskirts of Victoria to Saint Lawrence confirms that the authorities understand the strategic importance of Victoria within the socio-economic context of the Island. However the document falls short of tackling what is crucial, that is the insufficiency of the main roads of the City to cater for the constant increase in traffic within its core which has been contributing to a considerable increase in traffic congestion. The current city's network suffers from a number of bottlenecks which are currently causing a delay in the flow of goods and people. Congestion results in increasing delays for the delivery of goods and loss of productive working time, apart from exerting a significant negative impact on the environment and on the economic activity, including tourism. Private car ownership and usage is on the increase, whereas public transport patronage has been on the decline. The increase in traffic loads and axle-weights of heavy vehicles using the roads has resulted in significant structural damage being caused to critical sections of the network, since the roads were originally designed and constructed to accommodate light traffic volumes. Therefore better infrastructure and the construction of the proposed ring-road is indeed needed and expected to mitigate transport inefficiencies and associated costs faced by Gozo's economic operators and consumers.

The plans for the construction of such a ring-road has been on the back-burner of the Country's agenda for the past thirty (30) years. If thirty (30) years ago it was already felt that something needed to be done to resolve the situation, it means that today it is a must, a necessity, a life-line decision.

It is important to note that apart from being geographically in the middle of the Island and as already mentioned links the 4 extreme poles of Gozo, Victoria is also a tourism zone with a number of very interesting and frequented attractions, including the Citadel, its historic quarter, churches and various buildings of historic and architectural relevance. Within it one can find the Ministry for Gozo with all the various different departments and entities, 4 primary schools, 4 secondary schools and 1 post-secondary school, the hospitals, the Courts and the residence and offices of the Bishop of the Diocese of Gozo, 5 banks, a sports complex, 2 theatres, a cinema together with the absolute majority of the commercial outlets on the Island. This means that the daily influx to the from Victoria is not only dependent to the number of Maltese and/or tourists that cross from the mainland but also to the number of Gozitan residents from all over Gozo who either work in Victoria or need to do business in Victoria.

All this brings about another very pressing problem; providing enough parking spaces first and foremost for Victoria's residents and thereafter for non-residents who work in Victoria and for people (Gozitans, Maltese and foreigners alike) who flock to Victoria daily to do business, to do some shopping, to appreciate its unique character and visit the numerous places of interests within or simply to have a cup of coffee or a beer. Although the introduction of the Victoria residents' parking scheme alleviated somewhat the parking problems for its residents, this automatically created further problems for all other non-residents. It is worth mentioning that while in Malta a number of initiatives to solve these type of problems in Valletta were undertaken by Government, such as the Park and Ride and the CVA scheme over these last few years aiming to encourage a modal shift, unfortunately the same cannot be said for Victoria. As a Local Council we believe that the situation in Victoria is extremely similar to that in Valletta, if not in some instances even more dramatic, and therefore requires the necessary direct attention from Government.

As a concrete solution for this recurring problem, the Victoria Local Council is therefore requesting that the necessary permits for the private parking area proposed by the Cathedral Administrative Council be issued without further delay and that the Victoria Local Council's application to create parking facilities in the area known as 'il-foss' (the ditch) just outside the Citadel bastions be favourably considered. If these proposals are not agreed to by the relevant authorities, the Local Council expects that other concrete counter proposals be provided for all the local community to scrutinise and discuss in the interest of the locality and the region.