Faisal Aboobacker Ponnani Saudi Gazette AL-KHOBAR — Huge traffic jams have struck the Eastern Province over the past few days, especially at night, as shoppers turned out in large numbers ahead of Eid Al-Fitr. Traffic police officers are trying hard to ease the traffic jams by operating traffic lights manually. The women's markets in Dammam, Al-Khobar and Al-Ahsa are bustling with visitors ahead of Eid Al-Fitr, adding to the traffic snarls across the city. With people on a shopping extravaganza, the situation could go from bad to worse over the next four days. Long queues of vehicles are bumper-to-bumper on the busy streets. Some of the roads, especially roads where flyovers and underpasses are being constructed, have once again proved the vulnerability of downtown traffic. Traffic flow toward the central area that covers Rashid Mall, Mall of Dhahran, Shathi Mall, Shira Mall and Marina Mall was at a standstill until late evening as families set out to prepare for Eid Al-Fitr. As some shopping malls failed to accommodate the surge of vehicles, the shoppers were prompted to park their vehicles on the roadsides, disrupting the flow of traffic even further. The Dammam downtown area, Qatif main streets, Al-Khobar shopping streets, Corniche areas and roads leading to the popular hypermarkets in the province also witnessed huge traffic jams Thursday evening. The rush, which started building up at around 8.30 p.m., caused traffic on the main roads to come to a standstill at 10 p.m. and it took two hours for the congestion to ease. All the main streets in the vicinity of mosques were also crowded, as people turned out in large numbers to perform the Taraweeh (special night prayers in Ramadan). When the shoppers come out in full force in the next few days, there will be greater pressure on the roads. The unending traffic chaos in major roads was also exacerbated by ongoing road works. Road diversions on several crowded streets have become a nightmare for commuters as they negotiate through heavy traffic. “I was held up in the traffic for a long time yesterday. It took me one hour to travel the distance I normally cover in 15 minutes in Dammam,” said Hilal, a resident of the Adama area.
