Major projects underway to upgrade Bahrain's roads

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Bahrain - Works, Municipalities Affairs and Urban Planning Minister Essam Khalaf highlighted a series of strategic projects to upgrade the country’s roads.

The drive aims to increase road capacity, ensure smooth traffic flow and higher levels of safety to cope with urban, demographic and investment development.

Recent statistics revealed the number of vehicles registered with the General Directorate of Traffic reached 711,000 until August this year – likely to increase by year-end – compared with 640,000 vehicles last year, a 10per cent increase, he said.

A total of 915,000 vehicles crossed King Fahad Causeway from Saudi Arabia in September, 31,000 vehicles on average daily, compared with 650,000 vehicles during the same month last year, 22,500 vehicles on average daily (a 41pc increase).

Nearly 994,000 on average crossed the causeway from Saudi Arabia per month during summer compared with 874,000 during the same period last year.

He attributed traffic congestion to the annual rapid increase in the number of vehicles and concentration of elements of attraction in specific areas, which required road network expansion as a possible, but not the only solution. This led the government to utilise lands for shopping malls across the kingdom and open government institutions’ branches outside Manama.

The ministry also implemented a number of strategic projects that helped ease traffic jams, including road expansion, construction of bridges and tunnels on major junctions, he pointed out, citing particularly Muharraq Ring Road, Wali Al Ahd Highway expansion projects and the second phase of Al Jasra Interchange Revamp Project, which were completed last year.

He said 31 projects are under execution or at consultation stage until mid-year. Alba-Nuwaidrat Interchange development project (final phase) and Shaikh Khalifa Bin Salman-Shaikh Isa Bin Salman Interchange project first phase (Saar junction) with a capacity of about 3,600 vehicles per hour (nearly 45,000 vehicles daily), which is expected to be completed by early 2021, is one of them.

Shaikh Isa Bin Salman Highway Expansion, which aims to increase capacity to 8,800 vehicles daily and Shaikh Zayed Highway Development, which will increase capacity to 80,000 vehicles daily and 6,000 during peak hours, and the fourth bridge linking Muharraq with Manama were among them.

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