Four of the six vital bridges that used to link King Abdulaziz International Airport (KAIA) in Jeddah with Makkah’s Grand Mosque have been taken down to make way for the Haramain High-Speed Rail Project.

The last of these bridges leads directly to King Abdullah Road. The road on which these bridges existed have since been a scene of major congestion.

The bridge leading to Briman Road was also demolished to make way for the railway, but the road was soon back in service with the partial opening of a newly constructed replacement bridge.

The Tahlia bridge was torn down by mid 2013 without prior notice.

Another year passed before the bridge leading to KAIA mysteriously disappeared, causing confusion among drivers and accidents due to the fact that drivers had not been accustomed the new re-routing.

The bridge leading to King Abdullah Road, which is next to one of the main Haramain train stations, was torn down to facilitate the completion of the project scarcely two months after the demolition of the airport road bridge.

This leaves the university and Palestine bridges, both of which will be congested with drivers looking for alternative routes after many of their daily landmarks disappeared to make way for the giant development project.