On Wednesday morning, a section of freshly placed tarmac caused a one-hour traffic delay in Mellieħa as drivers were waiting for it to dry.

Starting at the top of Mellieħa’s hill and extending all the way to the Seabank Hotel was the gridlock. People were exiting their vehicles to smoke next to the roadside.

The two northbound lanes to irkewwa had a layer of tarmac applied over the previous night, and it was necessary for it to dry before the road could be reopened to traffic, according to a source at Infrastructure Malta.

The reason the tarmac had not cured by early morning was not immediately clear, however it’s possible that the weather or the material’s quality had anything to do with it.

Even when some traffic was redirected to a different lane, it was unable to keep up with the demand.