An analysis of Mdina Road from a road planner's point of view

Abstract

From the condition of our roads one can conclude that road engineering is not a field in which our ancestors excelled. While moving through the pothole-filled roads, one can notice many defects, such as missing road furniture, lack of pedestrian crossing facilities, lack of parking space, disastrous surfaces and a chaotic network of public utility services. All these defects make our roads dangerous. The number of these defects can be decreased through proper planning in the early design stage. Proper planning will not only make our roads safer but the government will also be able to save money, since roads will last longer. Presently, our roads possess only a short life span in the region of 3 to 5 years. However, if roads are properly planned, they can even last for 20 years. Proper planning can only be done by collecting and interpreting the data. In this dissertation, I tried to tackle this aspect. I tried to analyze the present condition of Mdina Road - one of the most disastrous roads in the central part of Malta. The acquired information was then interpreted to provide two alternatives in chapter eight. Mdina Road has many defects, especially in the road surface. So, unconsciously we only tend to see these policies as extensive areas of cracks. However, Mdina Road has many more defects, which tend to be unnoticed. These unnoticed defects might lead to tragic endings. Such defects are due to the lack of planning. In this dissertation, I tried to analyze Mdina Road from a road planner's point of view and limited myself to pinpoint these planning defects. The dissertation is divided into eight chapters. Each chapter is divided into two par ta. In the first part, there is a brief description of the theory. In the second part, there is a case study showing the defects of Mdina Road related to the chapter title. In chapter eight, there is a list of conclusions derived from each chapter. In the final part of this chapter, there are two alternatives of how Mdina Road can be rehabilitated.