JEDDAH, 9 February 2004 — Everyone who drives in Jeddah understands and accepts that potholes and bumps are simply a part of the process; in fact, they are a part of every minute of driving. Arab News spent a day driving around town to identify some of the worst offending areas. Here is what we found.
The prize for worst district in Jeddah with the most potholes and bumps goes to Al-Ajwad and Al-Manar, districts neighboring the Briman area. A popular route for hundreds of fully loaded sewage tankers to the Briman sewage dumping lakes runs right through these districts’ shared, main thoroughfare. The constant drip, combined with the acidity of the sewage and the weight of the trucks, as they drive over the streets of the district has caused the concrete to cave in. As more and more trucks drive over, the larger and deeper the holes become.
Residents of the area have long complained. Seif Al-Mutairi, 21, a university student, travels the same route several times every day. “When we think we have memorized the locations of all the potholes, new ones appear. We have to update our routes from time to time in order to keep up with the new potholes we have to avoid,” he told Arab News.
Arab News has learned that a new municipality building is set to open in the district. When we went to visit the building to see if the municipality takes care of its very own neighborhood, we found that it also was surrounded by numerous lakes of water-filled potholes, the depth of which was to be tested. We picked a pothole at random and using a tape measure found the depth to be a car-jarring 25.5 cm. The only vehicles that can drive through there without damage are the large sewage tankers.
The prize for most neglected heavily-traveled major thoroughfare was of course Madinah Road, between Balad and King Abdul Aziz International Airport. However, serious efforts are being made to repair it as is evident by the traffic jams caused everyday by road repairs between 11 p.m. and 5 a.m.
Derick Kahil, 31, a salesman, said: “Malek Road, or as it is better known by expatriates, King Abdul Aziz Road, is my preferred road to use when I am traveling a long distance through Jeddah. The road there seems to be better and less troublesome to your suspension than Madinah Road. I have a classic BMW and I like to take care of it by driving it on good roads. I have a 4x4 for Jeddah’s normal streets.”
One set of potholes that deserves special recognition is in Balad. There is a small U-turn under the Balad bridge that all drivers have to take if they want to park at the Corniche Commercial Center. Some potholes there measure 28 cm. Most cars, including this reporter’s, sink into these holes so deeply that the puddles filled with fecal matter come into contact with the car’s hot undercarriage. This converts the putrid liquid into steam which releases an even more nauseating smell of tepid water and excrement originating with the seepage from the neighboring lagoon into which sewage is pumped from time to time.
A security guard at the Corniche Commercial Center said: “I have been here 12 years. I have seen them fix these holes four times. Everytime, they have to reroute traffic. The repairs last about four months and then the road needs repairing again. I think they have given up because last time I saw them working on it was three years ago.”
