Starting tomorrow (March 18), part of Jassim bin Hamad Street in Al Messilah will be closed for six months, Qatar’s public works authority Ashghal has said.
A 380m section of the southbound carriageway of the road, which runs from Al Rayyan Road up past Al Rayyan Village residential compound, will be shut to allow the completion of a tunnel that runs underneath Al Rayyan Road.
Drivers in the area should leave some extra time for the diversions that will be in place for the duration of the works, which are expected to be completed by mid-September.
Traffic heading south onto Al Rayyan Road will need to make a u-turn at the roundabout on Jassim bin Hamad St., then turn right onto Al Rashid St. and right again to Al Yamama St.
Drivers going from Sports Roundabout to Jassim bin Hamad St. should turn right off of Al Rayyan Road onto Al Yamama St., then left onto Al Rashid St., the public works authority said in a statement.
Works on that stretch of road have been underway since last summer, when the southern end of Jassim bin Hamad Street was shut in both directions for three months.
While one lane reopened southbound on the street, the northbound lanes have remained closed.
Al Rayyan Road
The latest closure is to facilitate the completion of a tunnel that will enable Jassim bin Hamad St. to run underneath the newly-widened Al Rayyan Road.
It is part of a new, three-level intersection at Al Messila to improve traffic flow in the busy area and alleviate existing heavy congestion around Sports Roundabout.
Once complete, the new junction will mean traffic on Al Rayyan Road will be free-flow, from east-to-west, with an underpass below it that would allow traffic coming eastbound on Al Rayyan Road to access Jassim Bin Hamad St. without having to drive to Sports Roundabout.
The underpass will also allow vehicles heading southbound along Jassim Bin Hamad St. to reach Sports Roundabout without having to pass through the Expressway Roundabout, Ashghal said.
Once completed next year, the overhauled 5.5km eastern section of Al Rayyan Road aims to increase capacity to 5,000 vehicles per hour in each direction with an eight-lane dual carriageway and six major interchanges.
Some 6km of side roads and 11km of service roads will also be reconstructed, and there will be new lighting and a storm drainage network in addition to cycle routes and pathways.
“The benefits of this project is to improve the traffic safety, cut travel times and the number of priority controlled junctions will provide improved access to other key roads and residential areas,” Ashghal said.
Works to the road, which started in February 2014, are expected to be complete by Q3 2017 2018.
Thoughts?
Note: This article was edited to reflect the completion date for the Al Rayyan Road works (phase 2) as 2018. The date Q3 2017 is incorrectly stated on the organization’s website.
