Muscat Municipality will soon begin work on a road from Amerat to Yiti that passes through Wadi al Meeh. Municipality officials have said that the road, on completion, will be one of the busiest in the governorate of Muscat.
The project is part of ongoing efforts to develop a modern road network in the city. "The road is designed to lend support to major upcoming tourism projects around Yiti and Sifah. The road will be one of the busiest as it links the two places with a short distance," an official from Muscat Municipality said.
The Amerat-Wadi al Meeh-Yiti road will be 16km long and will begin at the Al Mahaj roundabout in Amerat. "The road will have four lanes, culverts for rain water, street lights and other road safety features," the official said. The existing road along Wadi al Meeh runs deep in the valley and is not safe during rains.
The municipality had also tendered a project for comprehensive rainwater drainage study in all areas of the governorate. "The study was awarded to a specialised consultancy company which will collect data about the course of wadis, quantity of rain, existing drainage system and the geographical structure of the governorate," the official said.
The first stage of the study was carried out in the wilayat of Bausher and areas in Ghubra and Azaiba, which are affected most during rains due to varying heights of roads and lack of a proper drainage system.
The drainage study project complements a previous project that studied road safety and included interviews with drivers, survey of parking areas, evaluated road capacity and drafted a comprehensive plan for Muscat till 2025.
"The study covered the number of vehicles owned by families and the number of vehicle owners. The aim of the study was to collect fresh data to determine the governorate's needs for road safety over the next 20 years," the official added.
This was the third such study conducted by Muscat Municipality after related studies carried out in 1985 and 1993.
Muscat Municipality has carried out several projects to improve road infrastructure in the city. The beginning of 2012 saw the completion of a 4.5km road from the Mawaleh flyover intersection to Al Khoudh flyover intersection. The work included construction of ten concrete culverts, three subways and three pedestrian bridges.
© Muscat Daily 2012
