All photos courtesy of Ashghal

A new bridge that connects Doha to Lusail City has partially opened to the public, Qatar’s public works authority has announced.

The North Canal Crossing Bridge makes the connection through the under-construction Pearl interchange, and is part of Ashghal’s Lusail Expressway program.

The area was closed off four years ago when construction began on the expressway in November 2012.

Last month, the bridge briefly re-opened to commuters during the UCI World Cycling Championships.

The 200-meter-bridge includes two lanes in either direction. Construction will be completed on the bridge by the final quarter of 2017.

Ashghal said the partial opening is expected to improve connectivity to the West Bay Lagoon. However, the roads surrounding Lagoona Mall and the Pearl appear to remain convoluted.

Expressway progress

The Lusail Expressway will eventually be four lanes in each direction and stretch 5.3km in length.

It starts at the former Arch Roundabout (now the upcoming Al Wahda Interchange), and goes past Katara and the Pearl to Lusail City.

In a statement yesterday, Ashghal said it has made major progress on the overall project:

“Six major tunnels at The Pearl and Onaiza Interchanges and the underpass at Al Wadha are at advanced stages of structural construction and utility works. To date, over 3,000,000 cubic meters of materials have been excavated to enable works on these sites.

38,000 meters of telecommunication, water and electricity utility network lines have been laid while 513,000 cubic meters of concrete and 55,000 cubic meters of rebar steel works have been utilized to deliver the current state of completion.”

The Public Works Authority also emphasized that it is working to not disrupt marine life around the north & south canals, and has set up a program to monitor environmental conditions.

Have you driven on the new bridge yet? Thoughts?