The government has allocated SR1.3 billion to implement highway projects next year in Makkah, Minister of Transport Dr. Jabarah Bin Eid Al-Suraisiry said Saturday in a meeting here with more than 200 businessmen. The most important projects being implemented in Makkah are the second and third ring roads, each of which will be 14 kilometers long, said Dr. Al-Suraisiry, who added that eight kilometers of each road have been completed. A project is also being implemented to build a road exclusively for trucks, which will link South Ring Jeddah Road with Makkah-Madina Road, he said at the gathering, held at Makkah Clock Hotel and hosted by the Makkah Chamber of Commerce and Industry. “This road will reduce the pressure on Haramain Road and Jeddah-Makkah Road,” Dr. Al-Suraisiry said. The Al-Haramain Train Project, which will be completed in six years, will link Makkah, Jeddah and Madina with 450 kilometers of railway, Dr. Al-Suraisiry said. Huge train stations will be built in Madina and Jeddah, at King Abdul Aziz International Airport and at King Abdullah Economic City in Rabegh, he added. More than SR5 billion is being spent on transportation networks and roads in Makkah, Dr. Al-Suraisiry said. Over the past few years, more than 5,900 kilometers of roads have been built in the Makkah area and projects to build 1,600 kilometers of roads, which cost billions of riyals, are being implemented, he pointed out. There will be 146 road projects implemented in Makkah and about SR23 billion was allocated for the King Abdullah Program for Makkah Construction, which will be implemented in the next six years by the Commission for the Development of Makkah and the Holy Sites, he said. The Commission is chaired by Prince Khaled Al-Faisal, Emir of Makkah region, he added.
