A new construction project to fix Jeddah's main roads costing SR120 million has been announced by the Ministry of Transportation. The project which is a collaboration between the Transportation Ministry and the Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs, will include the Al-Haramin road, King Abdul Aziz Airport road, Al-Corniche, and the road linking Jeddah and Damascus. The Ministry of Transportation said the project was to reduce the increasing congestion on Jeddah's roads which link several cities in the western region such as Makkah, Madinah and the King Abduallah Economic City. Mefreh Al-Zahrani, general manager of Traffic and Transportation in the Ministry of Transportation, said the project was also set to reduce congestion on the ring road. “We are hoping to decrease congestion on the ring road linking Jeddah and Damascus because during the summer months the number of Saudis traveling on the road increases dramatically,” Al-Zahrani said. He said the project would span 85 kilometers from Jeddah's north Corniche to Thahban. The comprehensive plan will include 68 locations in Jeddah. The Jeddah Municipality will build bridges and tunnels to help keep the Jeddah traffic flowing as part of the plan. “The Ministry has signed an agreement with the Jeddah municipality to improve two crossings on the Jeddah Madinah highway located in North Jeddah,” he said. Al-Zahrani said the ring road improvements would also stretch to the Jeddah area. “We have finished designing the Jeddah ring road and we have plans to link it to the main roads of Jeddah in order to improve traffic inside the city.” Improvements to the rest of the roads in the Kingdom are still being studied by the Ministry of Transportation. – Okaz __
