Hussein Baaqeel, chairman of the council, called for action against parties responsible for the delay in implementing two bridges on Palestine Street and Prince Muhammad Street.

Saeed Bafuhaid, director of bridges and underpasses at the mayoralty, said three new bridges would be opened for traffic this year. The bridge on Prince Majed Street will be opened on July 12 while the underpass on the street at the old plane square will be ready by December. The bridge at the intersection of King Abdul Aziz Road with King Abdullah Road will be opened in November this year.

Bafuhaid said people would observe that the opening of some bridges and underpasses were not instrumental in easing traffic in the city.

“The reason is that the opened bridges and underpasses are part of number of integrated projects. Only when all these projects are completed you’ll see the difference,” he pointed out.

Alawi Sumait, deputy mayor of Jeddah for construction and projects, acknowledged that certain road and bridge projects in the city have been delayed due to mistakes.

“Work on constructing a bridge at the intersection between King Fahd Street and Palestine Street had to be stopped when we noticed there was mistake in the design,” he told the Municipal Council on Wednesday.

“We found out the mistake only after completing about 70 percent of the project,” the deputy mayor said. “We set up a committee to find a solution for the problem.”

He said the Legal Affairs Department would identify the mistakes of every party that is involved in implementing the project.

“We have also stopped work on another intersection project at Prince Muhammad Street with Umm Al-Qura Street before implementing it after finding problems in its design,” Sumait said.

“We have asked the consultancy house to revise the design at its own expense,” he said. He disclosed plans to make some improvements on King Fahd Street after opening of its underpass and bridge.