Starting Friday, Dec. 11, diversions will be put into place around Slope roundabout near Education City as Ashghal works to construct a two-level interchange inside the junction as part of Dukhan Highway works.

The existing roundabout will be closed and a new temporary one created around it. However, this is not expected to affect traffic flow, the public works authority said.

The diversions are expected to be in place until late summer 2016.

Slope roundabout, also known as Tilted roundabout, is the main entry point for traffic heading to Education City and Qatar National Convention Center.

Once construction on the interchange is finished, an underpass will run north-south along Al Gharafa Road, extending from Old Al Rayyan St. roundabout in the south on Huwar Street and stretching to Jassim Bin Thani roundabout in Al Gharafa, Ashghal said in a statement.

A signal-controlled intersection at the ground level is also being installed.

Highway construction

The construction is part of Ashghal’s ongoing Dukhan Highway East project to reconstruct 7.5km of the busy route from Al Wajbah Palace in the west to Slope roundabout, as well as 3km of Al Gharafa Street.

In a bid to tackle congestion, the road will be widened to four lanes in each direction and six multi-level intersections are being constructed to improve traffic flow.

New service roads and access roads will be created, while the project also includes a 10km-long micro-tunnel for drainage.

The QR 3.7 billion project, which is part of Ashghal’s national Expressways program, has been undertaken in phases since October 2011. It is due to be complete by mid-2017, according to Ashghal’s website.

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