About 300,000 travelers are expected to cross the King Fahd Causeway in both directions during Eid. This number will exceed earlier expectations, local media reported.
A coordination meeting between heads of government departments at the Saudi and Bahraini sides of the causeway emphasized the need to complete preparations ahead of Eid Al-Fitr since officials want to cope with the influx of travelers during the Eid recess and devise joint action plans to aid the movement of people and vehicles across the bridge.
Based on statistics from the past year, the number of passengers crossing the causeway within five days of Eid Al-Fitr reached 200,000.
The latest figures showed that over 100,000 passengers crossed the causeway on the last Saturday of the month of Shaban, which coincided with the change of the official weekend from Thursday-Friday to Friday-Saturday, thus breaking the figure recorded in January last year with 94,000 in a single day, the local media said.
Badr bin Abdullah Al-Atishan, director-general of the causeway, confirmed their readiness for the holiday season in collaboration with government departments operating on both sides of the causeway.
He stressed the keenness of causeway management to provide the best services to face the growing number of passengers and flow of traffic across the bridge.
He also stated that duty gates would be open during Eid.
“There is a plan which will guide travelers and transit passengers to follow safety and security instructions,” Al-Atishan said.
The causeway has undergone development since 2008 aimed at easing travel procedures and traffic movement. The causeway, which was established 27 years ago, has embarked on expansion plans at a cost of more than SR62 million to increase the capacity of vehicles and cargo areas by up to 200 percent.
Expansion plans also include construction of two artificial islands spanning over 600,000 sqm, each capable of accommodating up to 4,000 small vehicles per hour in each direction. Inspection yards will accommodate 400 trucks and a waiting area for trucks with a capacity of 400 vehicles, in addition to other facilities.
King Fahd Causeway expects influx of 300,000 travelers during Eid recess
