Qiddiya Investment Company (QIC) has awarded a contract to a Saudi company to begin roadworks that will serve the entertainment city being built just outside Riyadh. "After many months of preparation and planning by our teams in Riyadh, we are ready to start laying the first network of roads for the project," said Michael Reininger, chief executive officer of QIC. "This progress builds on our successes earlier this year, including approval of our Master Plan and the design reveal of the Six Flags Qiddiya, and we are delighted to partner with Shibh Al Jazira Contracting Company (SAJCO), a long-standing Saudi business." The 14-month roadworks project will connect traffic on the Dhurma Road with one of the first developments within Qiddiya, which will include offices, shops, restaurants, a petrol station and more. It will initially serve as a base camp for the project's on-site staff, and eventually as a staging and services center for business and project-related visitors to Qiddiya. This road project will provide quick and easy access for design, construction and other development teams to the Qiddiya site, enabling future infrastructure works such as utilities and landscaping. SAJCO is a family-owned company that is based in Riyadh and has roots in the Kingdom reaching back to 1965. Its projects have ranged from dams to bridges and motorways to runways. Reininger emphasized that Saudi companies such as SAJCO will play a vital role in the creation of Qiddiya, the Kingdom's capital of entertainment, sports and the arts. Ziad Wehbe Sulaiman, SAJCO CEO, said: "We are honored to have been chosen as Qiddiya's partner for this landmark project and our planners and site teams will bring all their resolve and their five decades of experience to bear, as we deliver this project in the months ahead." Along with the asphalt roadways, the project includes a grade-separated interchange that spans Dhurma Road with a slender, aesthetically pleasing bridge structures. This part of the Qiddiya project is to be substantially complete in November 2020. "As the Kingdom's home of inspiration, discovery and engagement, Qiddiya will be a place in constant motion. The road network that brings people to our city and distributes them within it, is a vital part of this motion — it will be the circulation system that will bring Qiddiya to life," said Kareem Shamma, QIC's chief development officer. Qiddiya is located on the Western outskirts of Riyadh. When the first phase of Qiddiya opens in 2023, it will directly employ approximately 17,000 people. — SG
