story parking lot will be built in Ghaza District near the Grand Mosque to help solve the parking problem in Makkah, said Col. Misha'l Musaad Al-Maghrabi, Director of Makkah Traffic Department. In a wide-ranging interview published in a section of the Arabic press on Tuesday, Al-Maghrabi also outlined other developments taking place to tackle traffic problems in the city. He said that traffic courts, once established, will reduce the time taken to process cases. Regarding train stations, he said three stations in Ghaza, Jabl Al-Ka'ba and Kudai districts will be built to facilitate transport for Haj and Umrah pilgrims and visitors. About Saher, he said the latest statistics show a 21 percent decrease in injuries caused by traffic accidents and a five percent drop in deaths. “There are currently 20 mobile Saher cameras, six stationary ones and five additional cameras all over Makkah.” Regarding speed limits, he said these are decided by the Traffic Department, Ministry of Transport and Makkah Mayoralty. “We have recently increased the speed limit of the Circular Road and Al-Sharayeh Road to 100 km/hour. For other roads, there is no plan to increase the speed limit.” Regarding insurance companies, he said some companies have tried to wriggle out of their financial obligations. The role of the Traffic Department is to ensure citizens have insurance when they register their vehicles or have their driving licenses renewed. Financial issues are the responsibility of the committee of financial disputes and the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency, Al-Maghrabi explained. “Our role ends when we issue a report about the accident.” In response to a question about whether his department has plans to remove traffic signs and build roundabouts in Makkah, he said roundabouts do not work in Makkah because drivers do not yield to traffic flow inside the roundabout. This, unfortunately, causes congestion. Many mayoralties have started reducing the number of roundabouts in their cities because of this problem, he said.
