JEDDAH: The streets of Jeddah turned into a wrestling match as students returned to schools and universities on Sunday.

Traffic congestion in the morning brought back the suffering of parents, especially in areas around schools and near King Abdul Aziz University.

Ahmed Al-Oufi said the northern side for those coming from the Al-Naseem neighborhood and heading toward King Abdul Aziz University was heavily congested, with more than a 45-minute wait at times at the northern gates.

No traffic patrols were on the site to regulate traffic, prompting many parents to exit their cars and direct traffic in an attempt to clear the bottleneck at the northern entry of the university.

Mohammed Al-Ghamdi, who lives in Al-Baghdadiya, said the presence of some schools inside residential neighborhoods created many problems on the first day of school.

“The problem doesn’t get resolved, but rather continues, and every day we suffer,” he said.

Saleh Al-Otaibi said the increased number of cars and drivers in the city has worsened the problem, as has the absence of traffic cops to regulate vehicle movement at intersections such as Al-Manar with Al-Tahlia, Al-Haramain Road with Abdullah Sulaiman Road, and others.

Abu Turki, who also lives in the Al-Naseem neighborhood, said he left at 6:30 a.m. to take his son to school in the same neighborhood, but did not arrive until 7:30 a.m. due to the heavy traffic.

Others said the problem stemmed mostly from the absence of traffic police at intersections.

Abu Dima, who lives in Al-Rehab, attributed part of the problem to parents ferrying students starting for school late.