Saudi Arabia’s Roads General Authority (RGA), in collaboration with the National Centre for Privatisation & PPP (NCP), announced on Monday the launch of an Expression of Interest (EOI) notice for the Jeddah-Makkah Direct Highway project and associated Motorway Services Areas (MSAs).

The Jeddah-Makkah Direct Highway spans 64 kilometres, featuring four lanes in each direction, and includes six intersections, one camel crossing, and five vehicle overpasses.

The public-private partnership (PPP) project comprises an Operations and Maintenance (O&M) contract for the Jeddah-Makkah Highway, as well as a Design, Build, Finance, Operate, and Maintain (DBFOM) contract for the development of four MSAs on both sides of the highway, according to an NCP press statement.

The contract term is set for 10 years, the statement said.

According to the statement, the project aims to operate and maintain the road, enhancing its infrastructure to serve the millions of pilgrims and Umrah performers traveling between Jeddah and the Holy City. The highway is designed to reduce travel time between the two cities to 35 minutes.

The MSAs will support logistics and tourism, contributing to the Kingdom’s position on the Global Connectivity Index.

Local and international investors can review the EOI document on NCP website and submit their interest by 24 October 2024, 3:00 p.m. KSA time.

(Editing by Anoop Menon) (anoop.menon@lseg.com)

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