JEDDAH: Government plans to further expand and improve on the transportation infrastructure in the country in 2011, to help grow the economy and upgrade services. This is according to Eng. Mufareh Bin Mohammed Al-Zahrani, the director of transport and road affairs of the western region, at a press briefing at the opening of the Saudi motor show on Sunday Dec. 26. “The transportation sector is important. We have a number of big projects including the Taif ring road and four ring roads in Makkah region – where the first, second and third roads have been completed and work is underway on the second phase of the fourth ring road.” “To ease the traffic in Jeddah, there is a plan to build a new ring road around the city all the way from the south to the extreme north, which is about 200 to 220 kilometers of expressway.” “We have a good budget for this [coming] year as the government is taking good care of the transportation system. The budget released a few days ago did not indicate the amount of expenditure on projects this year, but last year we spent almost SR11 billion on the development of the transportation system in Makkah region,” he said. He added that the Makkah Haramain project is taking place according to plan and is expected to be finished by the end of 2012. He said a committee has been established to oversee spending on the project. Measures have also been taken to ensure that compensation is paid out to owners if their properties have to be appropriated to make way for the construction. He said two junctions have already been removed in Makkah to make way for the project. There are also plans to establish a rail project in Asir region to connect Jizan with Jeddah and Khamis Mushayt, and Khamis Mushayt to Taif. He said feasibility studies are underway to introduce light rails and buses to upgrade the public transportation system.
