A car moving through the newly built Fereej Al Ali tunnel on D-ring Road.
The newly opened road development project on D-Ring Road is providing great relief to motorists by easing traffic congestion and cutting travel time significantly, said an official.
“The main road on D-Ring Road and the tunnel of Fereej Al Ali (Al Tadamon) Intersection project opened to traffic recently,” said Eng Saleh Mohamad Ali Al Shibah from the Expressway Department at Public Works Authority (Ashghal).
Speaking to Qatar TV, Eng Al Shibah said: “After opening the project, we noted remarkable improvement in traffic flow as the project served many crowded areas such as Freej Hilal, Al Nuaija and Old Airport.”
He said that the project also connected the Doha Expressway and D-Ring Road towards Lulu and Airport Road. “The project replaced many crowded traffic signals which led to reduced travel time by 70 percent. Under the project, 3.5km roads were developed to cater to the motorists especially those residing in the neighbouring areas,” said Eng Al Shibah.
He said that the project covers three intersections - Al Tadamon, Al Nuaija and Lulu Hypermarket.
“The lanes of the road expended from three to four with a capacity of 16,000 vehicles per hour in both sides enhancing traffic flow. One kilometer long Al Tadamon tunnel is also part of the project with three lanes in each direction with the capacity of 12,000 vehicles per hour,” said Eng Al Shibah.
He said that about 66 percent material used in the project was locally made such as street lights, power cables, steels. “Over 100,000 tonnes of asphalts, 17,000 tonnes of steel and 150,000 sqm concrete were used in the project.”
Speaking about the challenges in building the project, he said that one of the major challenges was the location of the project at Doha central surrounded by densely populated areas.
He said that the project recorded 5 million man-hours without lost time injuries because of the strict safety measures taken by Ashghal.
“The tunnel was developed in a unique way first time upside down, first of all we built rooftop for installing signals then bring down the machine for excavation under the tunnel. As a result, the traffic signals over the tunnel were opened first and the work of tunneling was continued,” said Eng Al Shibah.
He said that the new work methodology aimed at ensuring the traffic flow during the road development work. To a question about the beautiful art works along the walls of tunnel in both sides, he said that this is the effort of Qatari artist Fatema Al Shirshini which reflects Arab identity showing calligraphy of Arabic alphabet.
“The work is continued to build service roads and tracks for cycling and pedestrians in 4.5 km. Moreover, plantation and landscaping along the project are also going on,” said Eng Al Shibah.
It is to be noted that Ashghal opened the carriageway and underpass at Fereej Al Ali Intersection, popularly known as Al Tadamon Intersection, on D-Ring Road on February 12.
Ashghal also developed 3.5km rainwater drainage networks to raise the efficiency in the area, through micro tunneling, and reconstructed infrastructure services, such as water, electricity, drainage, and communications networks.
