A man uses a dilapidated pedestrian bridge in Jeddah. — Okaz photoMohsin Al-Hazmi Okaz/Saudi GazetteJEDDAH – Pedestrians who want to cross a street in Jeddah often have one option: to wait. Most roads in the city don't have pedestrian bridges or crosswalks and the busy Palestine St. is a prime example of a busy throughway where countless people have lost their lives after trying to outrun oncoming traffic. There are a few pedestrian bridges that are scattered throughout the city and residents have called on authorities to construct more of the bridges and help make streets safer for pedestrians. Saeed Abdul Rahman said he nearly escaped death while he was crossing a main street. Abdul Rahman said he froze in the middle of the street not knowing what to do when he saw a speeding car driven by a reckless young man approaching. The car passed beside him at full speed. “I can't help but think what if a boy, a woman or an elderly person was in my shoes, they would've probably gotten run over by that reckless young driver." Abdul Rahman said he was crossing Al-Haramain Expressway to get to the stores on the other side. He said a part of the street is elevated and it is difficult to see cars coming from the eastern part of the street. “All of a sudden you find yourself face to face with a speeding car." Idris Othman lives in Al-Fayha neighborhood near the Traffic Administration. He says the pavement of the street facing the administration's building has become the favorite jogging place for many people including elderly and women. But when joggers try to cross the street, they take a risk of being struck by oncoming traffic. “I've seen a few horrific accidents that took place here and many people were badly hurt. Having a pedestrian bridge would solve the problem," he said. Ali Ahmad can't forget the day his sister-in-law was run over by a reckless driver as she was crossing the street to get to the primary healthcare center to have her son vaccinated. “I don't know why there are few pedestrian bridges in a big city like Jeddah and why the current ones are dilapidated?" Abdul Al-Nahari, adviser to Jeddah Mayor in matters related to public services, said the mayoralty and Jeddah Traffic Administration are coordinating to choose the right location where pedestrian bridges should be constructed. “We're looking into factors like crowdedness, traffic jams, etc to choose the right locations. Plus there's a special committee in charge of choosing the streets that need services for pedestrians."
