There are hundreds of delayed public projects in the Kingdom with an estimated total cost of over SR500 billion, most of which are municipal projects.
According to a report, among the delayed projects are at least 166 key projects under various phases of implementation in major cities. The delay in completion of these projects has added woes to the local residents.
One of these is Tahliya traffic project at the intersection of Prince Majed Street and Prince Muhammad Street in Jeddah. Construction works started on Aug. 27, 2008, and even though the project was supposed to be completed by September 2011, it is yet to be finished.
The project is progressing at a snail's pace, and this is instrumental in prolonging heavy traffic congestion, thus disrupting public life to a certain extent at one of the busiest junctions in the city. It also incurs huge losses to owners of commercial centers, restaurants and other shops in the area.
The SR137 million project involves construction of an overpass and underpass with three lanes in both directions with the aim of easing traffic congestion on Prince Majed Street from north to south and Tahliya Street from east to south. Several local residents, including motorists and shop owners, have complained that top Jeddah municipality officials, including Mayor Hani Abu Ras, give one excuse or the other for the delay in completion of the project. Officials of the Agency for Construction and Projects at the municipality attributed the delay to some external factors that are beyond their control. They noted there was no provision in the project contract to remove the major utility service lines that are passing through the road, and that contractors are waiting for removal of the lines so as to complete implementation of the project. The mayor earlier issued a strict directive not to award any projects in the future without having completed coordination with all the concerned utility service departments to ward off similar situations.
Arab News failed to obtain a specific answer from the concerned municipal officials regarding the date of opening the project. The officials said an announcement in this regard would be made in the near future. Replying to queries with regard to completion of the project, one local resident replied: "There is a date on the sign board set up at the project site. What is happening really is a different thing."
On a tour to the area, Arab News witnessed that the heavy traffic congestion, which the local residents are accustomed to, was not the only problem they faced. A number of shop owners said their revenues had dropped by 50 percent against what they had before implementation of the project had started. Some shops have already been shut down after incurring huge losses. Most of the shops and restaurants on the western direction to the right side of Prince Majed Street have lost their customers, as there is no space to park vehicles near these shops.
One restaurant owner said that the street for vehicles to approach the restaurants is now very busy with motorists. The area is usually witnessing heavy traffic jams, mainly after Dhuhr in the afternoon and after Maghrib until midnight, and this has dashed all hopes of restaurant owners to serve their customers during peak business hours.
Shops and workshops, especially those for the sale of spare parts and repair of motorcycles along Prince Majed Street and Tahliya Street in the northern direction, are the biggest losers of the delay in completion of the project. Many shop owners said they had lost their customers, and their work now mainly concentrates on repair works of motorcycles.
The intersection has also become an accident-prone area. Some shop owners and eyewitnesses told Arab News that at least nine elderly people had died in separate accidents in the area in Bani Malik district during the first two weeks after opening the underpass at the intersection of Prince Majed Road and Palestine Street. All these elderly people were hit by vehicles while they were crossing Prince Majed Street.
Speaking to the newspaper, local residents said the speeding vehicles coming through the underpass caused these accidents.
They said it is very difficult for motorists to see passersby crossing the road from a long distance. Moreover, there is only one Saher camera to detect violation of traffic regulations in the area. It is located in the old airport area beyond King Abdulaziz University tunnel.
The local residents have urged the authorities to intensify the traffic monitoring system in addition to setting up of pedestrian bridges across the road. A number of consultant engineers told Arab News that delay in underpass projects in Jeddah is a routine matter, and the common answer given to the problem is something related to infrastructure and the level of groundwater in the coastal city.
© Arab News 2012
