Transport minister opens 2nd Ring Road costing $176mln in Jeddah

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RIYADH — Minister of Transport and Logistics and Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Roads General Authority Eng. Saleh Al-Jasser opened the Second Ring Road in Jeddah Governorate for vehicular traffic movement. The opening ceremony was held in the presence of Acting CEO of the Roads General Authority Eng. Badr Al-Dalami.

The road project, which was implemented at a total cost of SR660 million, has four lanes in each direction, and includes five intersections and 11 bridges, in addition to 50 crossings. The operation of the road, which extends from King Faisal Road to the Prince Mohammed bin Salman Corridor on the Jeddah-Makkah Expressway, with a length of 31 km, will be under the purview of the authority while the remaining 82 km section of the road is within the jurisdiction of the Jeddah Mayoralty.

This road project is one of the strategic projects in the Makkah region, as it provides a complete connection to the south of the city of Jeddah to its north after its completion. It aims to keep pace with the smooth traffic movement in accordance with the population increase that the city is witnessing, by transferring the movement of trucks and heavy transport outside the city. The project also works to connect roads in the region, enable economic and logistical movement, and contribute to raising the level of safety.

It is noteworthy that the Roads General Authority seeks to achieve the strategic goals of the road sector by reaching the sixth classification in the global road quality index in 2030, reducing road deaths to less than five cases per 100000 people, and covering the road network with traffic safety factors according to the classification of the International Road Assessment Program (IRAP), maintaining an advanced level of services to meet the road network’s capacity level, and increasing the private sector’s participation in operational work.

The authority also continues to implement many vital projects and initiatives to improve the road sector, which is considered as one of the most vital and potential realms for many promising sectors such as the Hajj and Umrah sector, as well as industry, tourism, trade, logistics services, and many other vital sectors.