Shaikh Khalid bin Abdullah Al Khalifa, Deputy Prime Minister, paid an inspection visit to the partial opening of the underpass at the intersection of Al Fateh Highway with Awal and Bani Otbah avenues (Al Fateh Grand Mosque Junction).
Wael bin Nasser Al Mubarak, Minister of Municipalities Affairs and Agriculture, Ibrahim Hassan Ali Al Hawaj, Works Minister, and Sultan bin Abdulrahman Al Murshid, CEO of Saudi Fund for Development (SFD) were present.
The development project is considered an essential part of developing the vital highway, which is funded within the Gulf Development Program by the SFD, at a total cost of about BHD 35 million.
The Deputy Primer praised the efforts of the Works Ministry in developing Bahrain’s infrastructure, particularly Al Fateh Highway development project, which is being carried out in accordance with the highest standards of accuracy, taking into account the traffic flow on this strategic street during construction, and which, once completed, will reduce traffic congestion on the roads in the capital city of Manama.
Al Hawaj said that the project works to meet Bahrain’s current and future development needs, as well as to revitalize the economy, as it connects Mina Salman intersection with the North Manama Causeway Bridge, which connects to Bahrain Bay.
As part of the ministry’s plans to improve traffic flow as the remaining parts of the project are completed, the partial opening of the underpass will provide additional work spaces, which can be used to complete the rest of the project on schedule, he added.
The minister noted that a new diversion at Al Fateh Mosque intersection will operate three lanes of the underpass, with two lanes for southbound traffic and one lane for northbound traffic. At the current light signal, two additional northbound lanes will be provided above the undrpass, providing the necessary space for the remaining underpass segments on the southwest side of the Gulf Hotel.
The CEO of SFD said that Al Fateh development is one of the Gulf Development Program projects to develop Bahrain’s infrastructure and promote sustainable development and economic growth, as well as contribute to the development of the transportation sector.
It is noteworthy that the Al Fateh highway development project aims to increase the capacity of the street to reach 140,000 vehicles per day, a 61% increase from the previous situation for the volume of traffic used for the same street, which was 87,000 vehicles per day. In terms of the three-lane Al Fateh highway underpass, which will be fully operational on the scheduled date, it will extend 600 meters in both directions.
Source: Bahrain News Agency