Jeddah's bicycle roundabout survives bridge project

The Bicycle Square will not be removed from its present site while constructing a bridge at the intersection on the crowded King Fahd Street in Jeddah.
The Jeddah municipality has been replacing traffic squares and roundabouts with overpasses and underpasses on major roads in its hurried efforts to ease the traffic in the city.
“Bicycle Square and Orbit Square on King Fahd Street (Sitteen Street) will be retained at their locations as per the signed contracts,” Jeddah Mayor Hani Abu Ras said in a statement on Saturday.
Abu Ras added that two separate contracts for the works at Orbit Square and the Industrial Institute Square on the road south of Erfan Hospital had also been signed.
The mayor said the municipality had allocated a plot for the Autism Center, which will be constructed by the Ministry of Social Affairs on Madinah Road east of Sharm Obhur in north Jeddah. Land has also been allotted for the Total Rehabilitation Center in Sharm Obhur. Plots for the headquarters of King Abdullah City for Atomic and Renewable Energy and the Saudi Geological Survey have been allotted on Madinah Road in east Obhur.
“We have started studying the intersections on King Abdul Aziz Road and hope to sign the first contract next month, while a contract for the intersection on Makkah Road and Prince Majed Road — an underpass on the former and an overpass on the latter — will be signed before the middle of next year,” the mayor said.
In another development, Jeddah municipality received the second position for its beach development project in a contest for the best projects in the Kingdom. This is the second award the municipality has received this month. The first award for the best urban project in the Middle East in 2012 — the Big Project Middle East Award — was won two weeks ago.
“The municipality’s winning a first place in the contest for the Big Project Middle East Award is an achievement of the Kingdom, especially for Jeddah. Now, the Jeddah municipality’s beachfront development has been awarded the second best out of 335 projects that competed in the contest,” a municipal source said.
The director-general of Rabiya Company, Sameer Kraidiya, said Jeddah’s beachfront development project covered the northern and central Corniche. More than 1,050 submissions from most Middle Eastern countries participated in the urban development contest in Dubai. Sixty-three contestants remained after the primary elimination, and 30 contestants were selected from them for the final round, he said.
The Big Project Middle East Award is the official award given by Big Project Middle East Magazine, which recognizes companies and individuals that have contributed to both construction and sustainability across the GCC. Big Project Middle East is published by CPI, one of the region’s largest publishers.