Whilst recognising the difficulty of redesigning City Gate following the rather insensitive construction of the present gate in 1964, Flimkien għal Ambjent Aħjar (FAA) suggests that something more than a bare gap in the bastions might be more suited as the main entrance to a fortified city, especially since continuity of the bastion line was essential for its function and ethos. The plans as submitted do not reflect the particular character of our fortified capital. We may feel that that it is time to move on from this image of Valletta, but has this been studied, and accepted and accepted in view of both Valletta’s history and touristic draw, or is it an individual interpretation? This action contradicts the measures being planned to restore the continuity of the fortifications by re-closing the breaches by the Siege Bell Memorial in Valletta and at St John’s Cavalier, Birgu.
The conversion of the ditch and yellow garage into a garden area and access point is a creative integration of this space into the rest of the project. Piano’s proposal to hold open-air performances in this garden should be explored as it might prove to be more protected from noise and wind than a theatre without a roof.
However it is not clear from the models and the elevations presented whether there will be the re-integration of the buried bastions outside City Gate since the brief given to Architect Renzo Piano appears to stop at City Gate. FAA looks forward to the elimination of the present shabby chaos of buses and kiosks in the reorganisation of public transport and hopes it will be coordinated with the Piano project and with increased use of ferry connections on both sides of the Valletta peninsula.
The opening of City Gate will sever the main artery into Valletta with the result that access from one side to the other one will require drivers to exit and re-enter Valletta however one asks if alternative plans have been studied carefully. Adequate provisiong for access for residents, the business community and its suppliers needs to be provided. Plans shown briefly in ADT’s advertising indicate that All of Valletta from City Gate to St Dominic Street and from Old Bakery Street to St Paul’s Street will become a pedestrian area. This is a positive measure, reducing pollution in the city however these changes have to be formally integrated in the Local Plan which will need to study the rerouting of heavy traffic through narrow St Mark Street, and also the change of direction of traffic through Old Bakery Street. Traffic which presently drives down, will now have to turn upwards towards St John’s Cavalier at the road’s steepest point. Because of this sharp corner, cars will have to rev up powerfully, emitting exhaust fumes, blackening recently restored buildings and increasing the rate of asthma among city dwellers.
Similarly, before eliminating hundreds of parking spaces, alternative arrangements should have been studied and proposed. The expansion of the Park and Ride, linking it to Valletta using a regular electric shuttle in the former railway tunnel might be worth looking into. Another multi-storey car park could also be created under the Floriana football ground, with access from Sa Maison, The MCP car park needs to finally be roofed-over, fulfilling the terms of its contract with Government and replacing the current eyesore with a garden.
The social impact on Valletta’s elderly residents is of particular concern and therefore in the interest of the residents, the business community, Valletta commuters and visitors, a Social Impact Assessment and a Traffic Impact Assessment need to be carried out along with the processing of the Piano project.
