Bahraini officials have said that work is progressing at a steady pace on the $7.5 million Saar Street Development Project, which is due to be completed by the end of this year.
In a statement, the Ministry of Works, Municipalities Affairs and Urban Planning said that the development project with the junction on Street 35 is 46% completed. The scope of work includes expanding the street by 3.895km for a two-way road, with 7m width in both directions, in addition to developing several junctions on it, with five traffic lights at the following junctions – Saar Street junction with Street 35; Saar Street junction with Road 1523; Saar Road junction with Road 2941; Saar Road junction with Road 1175 and Street 45; and Saar Road junction with Road 1725, it stated.
The work also involves the construction of 400 car parks along the street, along with four service streets with shops, it added. A pedestrian walkway on the side of the street on both ways is also included.
“The initial layers of asphalt are being implemented in addition to creating rain drainage networks,” said Sayed Bader Alawi, the head of project management and road maintenance at the ministry.
“The project will see new rain drainage networks, lightning networks, in addition to further security and development of water, electricity and communication in cooperation with the concerned departments, and ground canals will also be implemented for future use,” he explained.
Alawi added that there are a number of residential blocks and establishments around the project, aside from the traffic of Al-A’ali and the many pedestrians and bicycles and the entrances to the residential areas on the side of the street.
He explained that the works ministry aims to improve the traffic movement through the development of Saar Street and to increase traffic security through it, as well as organising the movement of vehicles and pedestrians and increasing the capacity of the street by double. Once the project is completed, the street will be able to cater to about 4,000 vehicles at a time and traffic jam incidences are expected to decrease by 60%, the ministry statement said.
The current average traffic movement is about 30,000 vehicles per day going both ways, as for morning and afternoon peak hours, the traffic density is about 2,000 vehicles per hour for both ways. The street capacity will reach 58,000 vehicles per day, the ministry concluded.