22 April 2008
MUSCAT: Come November, residents of Darsait, Muttrah, Muscat and other surrounding areas will heave a sigh of relief as traffic signals at the erstwhile Darsait roundabout will be ready by then.
Work on 'signallising' the Bait Al Falaj roundabout, commonly known as Darsait roundabout, as well as the Al Burj roundabout (Ruwi Church roundabout) is going on at a hectic pace and will be completed before November, well in time for the National Day, Abdullah A'Saadi, director-general of roads, Muscat Municipality, told the Times of Oman yesterday.
Traffic jams caused by the dense traffic at Darsait roundabout will be a thing of the past as the intersections will boast of traffic signals and a service road between Bait Al Falaj roundabout and Al Burj roundabout.
Many times, the traffic jams at Darsait roundabout used to have a cascading effect extending right up to Al Burj roundabout; towards the Corniche side as well as other intersections causing untold hardships to motorists.
The traffic woes used to be compounded during the school going time as well as in the evenings when shoppers would throng to the Lulu Hypermarket situated next to the Darsait roundabout.
Times of Oman and Al Shabiba had pointed out to this traffic anomaly at the Darsait roundabout through the popular Viewpoint column written by Essa bin Mohammed Al Zedjali, the editor-in-chief of Times of Oman.
At that time, the Muscat Municipality had responded promptly to the Viewpoint saying that efforts would be initiated to take concrete steps to ensure smoother flow of traffic. In this regard, the Muscat Municipality under the leadership of its Chairman Abdullah bin Abbas bin Ahmed deserves all the praise for working towards ensuring that traffic bottlenecks are removed wherever possible.
Muscat Municipality has commenced with construction works on the projects of the intersections of Bait Al Falaj roundabout and Al Burj roundabout in Ruwi along with expansion of the entrances at both the roundabouts.
According to information provided by Khalil Al Balushi, director of information, Muscat Municipality, about the Bait Al Falaj roundabout, a road is being constructed from under the flyover which will emerge to facilitate traffic for motorists driving from the wilayat of Muttrah and along Al Qurum Heights road.
An exit from the main road at Darsait Heights will also be constructed. This exit will be used by motorists to drive directly to the Indian School and Darsait area without the need for passing by Bait Al Falaj roundabout.
This road will connect to the service road being simultaneously constructed from the roundabout near the premises of the Muscat Municipality to Al Burj roundabout.
As per the plans, the entrances of the intersection at all directions of Al Burj roundabout will be extended and traffic signals will also be installed at the roundabout.
The Consolidated Contractors Company Oman has been entrusted with the task of completing the projects.
Although the roundabouts have been an adornment in Muscat city's beautiful roads, burgeoning traffic over the past years has necessitated the installation of traffic signals.
Already many notable and picturesque roundabouts like the Seeb Airport roundabout; Book roundabout at Al Khoud and Al Khuwair roundabout have been converted to traffic-signalled intersections.
MUSCAT: Come November, residents of Darsait, Muttrah, Muscat and other surrounding areas will heave a sigh of relief as traffic signals at the erstwhile Darsait roundabout will be ready by then.
Work on 'signallising' the Bait Al Falaj roundabout, commonly known as Darsait roundabout, as well as the Al Burj roundabout (Ruwi Church roundabout) is going on at a hectic pace and will be completed before November, well in time for the National Day, Abdullah A'Saadi, director-general of roads, Muscat Municipality, told the Times of Oman yesterday.
Traffic jams caused by the dense traffic at Darsait roundabout will be a thing of the past as the intersections will boast of traffic signals and a service road between Bait Al Falaj roundabout and Al Burj roundabout.
Many times, the traffic jams at Darsait roundabout used to have a cascading effect extending right up to Al Burj roundabout; towards the Corniche side as well as other intersections causing untold hardships to motorists.
The traffic woes used to be compounded during the school going time as well as in the evenings when shoppers would throng to the Lulu Hypermarket situated next to the Darsait roundabout.
Times of Oman and Al Shabiba had pointed out to this traffic anomaly at the Darsait roundabout through the popular Viewpoint column written by Essa bin Mohammed Al Zedjali, the editor-in-chief of Times of Oman.
At that time, the Muscat Municipality had responded promptly to the Viewpoint saying that efforts would be initiated to take concrete steps to ensure smoother flow of traffic. In this regard, the Muscat Municipality under the leadership of its Chairman Abdullah bin Abbas bin Ahmed deserves all the praise for working towards ensuring that traffic bottlenecks are removed wherever possible.
Muscat Municipality has commenced with construction works on the projects of the intersections of Bait Al Falaj roundabout and Al Burj roundabout in Ruwi along with expansion of the entrances at both the roundabouts.
According to information provided by Khalil Al Balushi, director of information, Muscat Municipality, about the Bait Al Falaj roundabout, a road is being constructed from under the flyover which will emerge to facilitate traffic for motorists driving from the wilayat of Muttrah and along Al Qurum Heights road.
An exit from the main road at Darsait Heights will also be constructed. This exit will be used by motorists to drive directly to the Indian School and Darsait area without the need for passing by Bait Al Falaj roundabout.
This road will connect to the service road being simultaneously constructed from the roundabout near the premises of the Muscat Municipality to Al Burj roundabout.
As per the plans, the entrances of the intersection at all directions of Al Burj roundabout will be extended and traffic signals will also be installed at the roundabout.
The Consolidated Contractors Company Oman has been entrusted with the task of completing the projects.
Although the roundabouts have been an adornment in Muscat city's beautiful roads, burgeoning traffic over the past years has necessitated the installation of traffic signals.
Already many notable and picturesque roundabouts like the Seeb Airport roundabout; Book roundabout at Al Khoud and Al Khuwair roundabout have been converted to traffic-signalled intersections.
By Visvas Paul D Karra
© Times of Oman 2008
