As part of its efforts to enhance traffic flow and ease congestion in the centre of Doha, the Public Works Authority ‘Ashghal’ commenced implementation of the B-Ring Road Development project, where work is currently underway to implement parts of the first four phases of the project.

Eng. Mohammed Arqoub Al-Khaldi, Head of Doha City Projects in Ashghal’s Roads Projects Department, said that this project is one of the most important road projects being implemented by Ashghal; it includes developing the B-Ring Road and Al Khaleej Street which are characterised by their heavy traffic movement, as they connect traffic to and from vital areas such as Msheireb, Al Muntazah, Al Corniche, Al Sadd and Bin Mahmoud. The B-Ring Road also connects many commercial and services facilities such as Rumailah Hospital, in addition to touristic destinations such as Qatar National Museum, Museum of Islamic Art, Souq Waqif, Al Badaa Park and others.

Eng. Al-Khaldi added: Several Doha Metro stations are located within the project area, which increases the importance of this project as it will facilitate the transport between many vital destinations in the centre of Doha and the rest of the country.

The project aims to develop the B-Ring Road and Al Khaleej Street, with a total length of 10km, and enhance their capacity by increasing the number of lanes on each of them from two to three lanes in each direction. This is in addition to developing Onaiza Street, and parts of the street perpendicular to the B-Ring Road such as Al Matar, Wadi Mushireb, Rawdat Al Khail, and Al Rayyan streets. The project also includes developing the entrance to Rumailah Hospital.

In order to enhance the traffic flow in the area and facilitate movement between the A-Ring Road and the B-Ring Road, the project will upgrade six intersections including Fareej Abdul Aziz Intersection, Al Doha Al Jadeed Intersection, and the intersections known as Asiad Intersection, Wadi Rasheeda Intersection, Al Orouba Intersection, and Bin Dirham Intersection. A New intersection will be developed at the intersection of Al Khaleej Street with Al Jazeera Street. Three roundabouts will be converted to signal-controlled intersections, which are Qasr Al Marmar, Al Mannai (Al Khaleej), and Wadi Msheireb (Al Jaidah Bridge) roundabouts.

The project also includes providing several elements that will incease the traffic safety in the area, such as providing two pedestrian bridges with elevators on Al Khaleej Street, as well as cycle and pedestrian lanes, road signs and road markings, and new street lighting. The number of parking bays will be increased, in addition to landscaping works.

The B-Ring Road Development Project also includes the development of Infrastructure services in the area such as upgrading the stormwater drainage system to avoid water accumulation during the rainy season, and developing the existing potable water, irrigation, and drainage networks.

The project is being implemented by Al Jaber and Makhlouf Construction Company under the supervision of Ital Consult at a cost of QR 472 Million. The project has been divided into five phases to facilitate the implementation of the construction works and minimize its impact on the surrounding residential and commercial areas. All phases of the project will be completed by Q2 of 2021.

In order to reduce the impact of construction works on the area’s residents and visitors, all closures and diversions are designed to maintain all entrances to residential areas and commercial establishments open to traffic during the project implementation period, in addition to maintaining two open lanes in each direction on the B-Ring Road in case of implementing any traffic diversion.

Ashghal will also implement a number of measures to reduce noise from construction works, such as using special equipment that produce less noise and regularly maintained, in addition to implementing excavation works during certain hours of the day to minimise inconvenience for area’s residents, and using water tanks to spray water during excavation works to control the resulting dust.

Source: Ashghal

The Public Works Authority ‘Ashghal’ continues to implement a comprehensive and ongoing program to enhance traffic safety in school surrounding areas as part of the implementation of the National Traffic Safety Strategy, by improving road conditions and maximizing safety.

Ashghal prioritizes the program to enhance traffic safety in the surrounding areas within the framework of the implementation of the National Traffic Safety Strategy (2013-2022), to reduce traffic congestion in these areas, to separate pedestrian and vehicle traffic, improve temporary unpaved roads and ensure the safety of students and parents upon arrival or departure from school.

Priority was given to 504 schools across Qatar, in coordination with the Ministry of Interior and the National Road Safety Committee, based on a study conducted by the Ministry of Education and Higher Education to select school areas in need of development.

To date, Ashghal has completed the improvement of roads surrounding 375 schools, covering 74.4% of the total number of schools.

In addition to finalizing designs for the surrounding roads of 23 schools, which are expected to get started as soon their approvals are obtained from concerned entities in the country, while the design of the surrounding road plans is in progress for another 40 schools.

In total, 503 out of 504 schools, or 99.8% of the schools, are listed in different treatment stages.

Programme Objectives

The School Zone Safety Programme aims to ensure the safety of students and parents upon their arrival or departure from schools and to ease traffic congestion which is seen next to schools and which exacerbates due to the lack of parking spots, sidewalks and footpaths.

Based on a study by the Road Operation and Maintenance department at Ashghal, the designs, which will develop traffic safety standards in school zones, will be set according to the results of the study and they will be adjusted according to the school administration recommendations. Implementation follows to establish safe roads in the school zones, providing car parks, building medians and small roundabouts in order to manage traffic flow in those areas. These works include as well as placing a sufficient number of directional signs, and road markings near schools. Moreover, the speed limit in the school zones will be set at 30 km/h and speed bumps will be installed in order to reduce speed.

In order to ensure the pedestrians safety, the Roads Maintenance team at Ashghal creates safe pedestrian paths for them and for people with special needs, noting that the enhancement and maintenance of these walkways will also be ensured. In addition safe entrances to schools, which overlook main streets, are provided as well and bright coloured rumble strips are placed to alert drivers when arriving or leaving the school district, also clear warning signals will be placed at on the roads leading to schools.

Work Mechanism

The completion of the integrated development works for every school needs about three months, preceded by several stages of studying and evaluating safety elements, which include the determination of the entrances and exits of the roads leading to the school in order to place the directional signs within walking distance of the institution. In addition to setting standards, technical foundations, and general requirements for the establishment of parking lots and various stopping points to facilitate the passenger drop off and pick up and determine the pedestrian crossing sites.

As part of the programme implementation, Ashghal coordinated with all the administrations of the concerned schools in order to determine the safety requirements in the school zones before designs are finalised and the implementation starts. Furthermore, all the safety elements will be ensured in the schools that are currently being built or those, which will be built in the future.

The list of schools included in the program to promote traffic safety around schools is increasing at a monthly and annual rate, from 276 schools in 2012 (beginning of the program) to 504 in 2019, and the number is still rising.

Source: Ashghal