The issue of traffic jams has resurfaced recently, which has prompted all concerned parties how to solve this nagging problem and produce immediate and long-term solutions.
A local Arabic daily said since the Public Authority for Roads and Land Transport is one of those concerned entities, it has developed several solutions for areas that suffer from frequent traffic congestion in coordination with the General Traffic Department, and accelerating the revival of the metro project as one of the long-term solutions, which can solve a large part of the crisis, especially in densely populated areas.
An official source in the Public Authority for Roads and Land Transport told Al-Rai, “The authority will begin during the coming period an economic feasibility study for the metro project to move it again, in contrast to the study prepared by the Public-Private Partnership Projects Authority, which concluded that the project’s implementation cost will be high and not beneficial to the investor, compared to the profitable returns that the project can generate.
“PART will take into account the feasibility study prepared by the Partnership Projects Authority and build on it, but with simplification of some procedures, with the aim of encouraging investors and expanding the base of participation in this project,” noting that the Authority will follow the steps it followed in preparing the study for the railway project. Iron, so that the state bears the costs of constructing the tracks and assigning the operations to an investor,” added the source.
The source stated the authority is considering reducing the number of metro tracks, so that the first phase of its implementation is limited to areas with high population density, so that the financial return of the project is suitable for the investor, noting that the authority’s initiation in preparing a feasibility study for the project is subject to the completion of the process of transferring all employees from the Ministry of Works. and appointing a general manager in person and filling all vacant positions.
The Public Authority for Roads and Land Transport, as well as the Ministry of Works, take into account the implementation of maintenance work for the asphalt bedding during the evening period, starting from five or six in the evening until five in the morning to avoid traffic jams.
The source said, “The Corona crisis cast a shadow over all sectors of the state and greatly affected the implementation and completion of infrastructure projects according to their schedules,” stressing that “all projects were delayed due to shortage of technical workers.”
He source pointed out that the authority considers itself a key partner in developing perceptions and proposals that would reduce traffic congestion, as it had previously presented its perceptions and proposals regarding the problem of congestion in the Sabah Al-Salem area (block one), and has already started implementing the first solutions to this problem through The development of entrances and exits for this plot in order to achieve the smooth flow of car traffic in that area.
According to the source, the hotspots projects are the South Surra Development Project, the intersection of Damascus Street with the Fifth Ring Road; the Fifth Ring Project, the intersection of Al-Ghazali Road; the Fifth Ring Road project, the intersection of Muhammad Bin Al Qassim Street; and a project to develop the Derwazat Al-Abdul Razzaq tunnel.
The projects where part of the problems are solved include the Jamal Abdel Nasser Road Project, the Jahra Project and the Sixth Ring Development Project.