A new system of entry to the King Fahd Causeway that will classify passengers into VIPs, students, foreigners, and families, and assign them to specific entry gates will be implemented after the expansion of the number of the entry gates from 13 to 18, with construction already under way to add the extra gates. “The expansion of the capacity of the causeway by increasing the number of entry gates and the assigning of exclusive gates to specific travelers are expected to ease the traffic jam which occurs during rush hours,” according to Abdulaziz A. Al-Zeyad, assistant secretary general of the Federation of GCC Chambers of Commerce and Industry. Al-Zeyad held meetings Tuesday with officials of the King Fahd Causeway Authority to discuss the current problem faced by Saudi truckers who have to wait hours to cross the causeway due to heavy traffic. The number of truckers from Saudi Arabia transporting construction material and other merchandise from the Eastern Province to Bahrain has dramatically increased in recent years because of the ongoing construction boom in Bahrain. Al-Zeyad, who met with Bader Al-Otaishian, general manager of the Saudi side of the King Fahd Causeway, said that on average 1,200 trucks and 24,000 passenger cars cross the causeway every day. “The opening of more gates for trucks and heavy vehicles will ease the flow of traffic crossing both sides of the bridge; though the situation will remain critical because of the increasing demand of Bahrain for cement, sand, steel, and other construction materials supplied from the Kingdom,” Al
