The local municipality has been working on the tunnel for over five months, which ironically was supposed to relieve traffic in the area.

“It is a good thing to see work has been done on the tunnel, as it was showing signs of deterioration. However, the work is causing real delays to many people including myself and I hope it reopens soon,” said commuter Ismail Ahmad.

“Sometimes it is chaotic around this road, especially during peak hours. Tensions tend to rise as motorists wait in long queues to reach their homes, and sometimes people get annoyed and start fighting,” said taxi driver Abdullah.

There have been numerous accidents along the road and commuters complain that the traffic police are not doing its job.

“I don’t understand why trucks are allowed to drive on the road. When a truck starts loading and unloading on the road it adds to the traffic jams. There has to be a traffic officer standing by to regulate traffic,” Obaied Saleh said.

Some motorists feel an officer needs to be monitoring the road. Otherwise, they say a road barrier is required to prevent cars from crossing lanes.

Last month Dammam’s Mayor Daifallah Al-Otaibi told Alyaum newspaper that part of the reason for the delayed maintenance work is the rainy season. He also blamed customs officials at Dammam’s King Abdulaziz seaport for delaying the transport of materials necessary to finish the job.

He added that the municipality is closely monitoring the situation to ensure there will not be any major problems in the future. The tunnel is expected to reopen at the end of this month.