The municipality held an event on Sunday to lay the foundation for the underpass, which is being built to ease traffic along Madinah Road.
“The municipality’s plans are focused on easing traffic jams in the north, south, east and west of the city,” said Deputy Mayor of Jeddah Khaled bin Fadl Akeel.
“The Sari Street and Madinah Road intersection is considered a vital link between the east and west of Jeddah and has a huge traffic problem,” said Saeed Ba-Fahad, director general of the municipality’s Bridges and Tunnels Department.
The new underpass will be 650-meter long and 22-meter wide.
“A few months ago, the municipality completed the overpass on Sari Street and Prince Sultan Road that has helped ease traffic. The municipality plans to find permanent solutions to traffic problems in the city as opposed to temporary ones,” Ba-Fahad said.
Municipality officials said they had allocated a total budget of more than SR3 billion for five years to implement projects to ease traffic and remove congestion in Jeddah.
“In 2009, the municipality completed four flyover projects in the city. These include the intersections between Prince Muhammad (Tahliah) Street and Prince Miteb Street, King Fahd Road and Quraish Street, Prince Majed Road and Ghornata Street, and the one on Macarona Street,” said Ba-Fahad.
He added that three more bridges and tunnels will be completed in Jeddah this year.
