RIYADH: The Royal Commission for Riyadh City announced on Thursday that the first phase of a program to develop main and ring roads in the Saudi capital has started.
As part of the first phase, four projects costing most than SR13 billion ($3.46 billion) will be implemented.
These four projects are as follows:
1. The building of a second southern ring road that extends 56 kilometers from the new Al-Kharj Road in the east to the Jeddah Road in the west. It will include four lanes for the main road in each direction and three lanes for the service road in each direction. The road will have 10 main intersections and 32 bridges.
2. Building two bridges parallel to the cable-stayed Wadi Laban Bridge and developing a 4km intersection of the western ring road with Jeddah Road. Four bridges at the intersection of the western ring road with Jeddah Road will also be built.
3. Developing the western part of the axis of Al-Thumama Road, measuring 6km, that extends from King Khalid Road in the west to King Fahd Road in the east. The construction of two main bridges and three tunnels.
4. Lengthening the Taif Road in the Laban neighborhood by 16km so that it extends to the Qiddiya Project. The construction of a 0.5km main bridge.
The program to develop main and ring roads aims to improve the transportation system in Riyadh and prepare it to be a major center for providing sustainable transportation and logistics services in the Middle East.
It is expected that the first stage of the program will take three to four years to be completed.