JEDDAH: The wooden pedestrian bridges in Jeddah are there to help pedestrians avoid risking their lives crossing the busier of Jeddah’s thoroughfares, but neglect and lack of maintenance has caused some of the bridges to pose dangers of their own.
The steps of these bridges break off with time and wear and create traps that could easily snap an ankle. The bridge that connects Rawdah and Faisaliah districts over Madinah Road, for example, has numerous places where injury could occur. Making things worse is a lack of lighting; it’s common to see laborers crossing these bridges at night using the light of their mobile phones to check for the broken steps.
A store operator near the Rawdah-Faisaliah pedestrian bridge said that it is “quite often” that people get tripped up for not being careful.
“Even though I’ve been over this bridge many times, I still walk with caution and I use my cell phone as a source of light when I use the bridge at night,” he added.
Another Pakistani laborer who saw an Arab News photographer taking pictures of the steps took the opportunity to complain.
“Where is the Baladiyah to fix this problem?” he said, throwing up his arms. “I cross this bridge every day at my own risk!”
For its part, the municipality says it ensures regular maintenance. Baladiyah spokesman Ahmad Al-Ghamdi told Arab News on Wednesday that the contractors that rent out the billboard spaces attached to these bridges are maintaining half of the city’s 22 pedestrian bridges. As part of the contract, these entrepreneurs are supposed to maintain the bridges, but all too often it seems these obligations are not being met. Workers recently removed wooden planks of the Rawdah-Faisaliah pedestrian bridge in order to change the billboard. When the work was completed, the boards were left scattered on the bridge rather than put back in their places.
In a recent interview in a local newspaper, Tarik Fadaak, head of the municipal council, urged the Baladiyah to show more concern toward the pedestrian bridges. He noted that most of the pedestrian bridges around Jeddah are in bad shape. These bridges are often the only way for walkers and cyclists to get from one district to another — especially those over Madinah Road, which divides the city with a six-lane highway with service roads and a concrete divider down the middle.
In one instance about three years ago, an overloaded truck hit and significantly damaged one bridge on the old Makkah road; it took a year before pedestrians — including students of a nearby grade school — could once again cross the busy street in safety.
The bridges are often strewn with trash, too, and the billboards that were installed in recent years have created giant blinders that hide illicit behavior. Evidence of drug use can be seen on some bridges, including discarded needles. The bridges have also become places for illegal residents to sleep or conduct street commerce.
One garment vendor set up over a Madinah Road pedestrian bridge said that he’s been at the same location for two years and “not once” had he seen an official so much as cross the bridge, much less inspect it.
