After six months of construction, the Corniche opened sans most of its roundabouts last week. Because of the Eid holidays, traffic has been fairly light on the road, which is one of the main routes connecting West Bay to the older parts of Doha.
However, congestion appeared to build during the evenings, especially around the Souq Waqif area, where Msheireb construction continues to cause traffic snarls in and around the popular spot.
The real test of the new Corniche, now equipped with smart sensors and signals with turning lanes, will likely come tomorrow, when most schools and government offices reopen after the Eid break.
Have you been on the Corniche lately? Thoughts?
Credit: Photos by Penny Yi Wang
I am glad the works are over but a little disappointed because….. there are still not enough pedestrian crossings!!
Why don’t they put pedestrian bridges over the roadway or will people just be too lazy to walk up and down the steps? They could install escalators like they have in Las Vegas 🙂
What used to take me 50 minutes before the Eid holiday took me 7 minutes today. Granted, it’ll take longer once more traffic cameras are in place. 🙂
Might take a lot longer once the government offices and ministries restart plus the schools. Don’t think these signals will be the miracle cure and just remember that once they finish digging up one part of Doha they’ll move onto the next bit and it’ll start all over again with queues.
I’ll admit that I’m not a fan of the lane design. The way it is now guarantees that the left lane at every intersection will be completely standstill every five minutes, exactly how it was/still is at the Ramada Intersection (C Ring Road to Salwa Road).
So far, so good. I might say that I’m actually impressed.