The Central Administration for Development Projects in the Holy Sites, an affiliate of the Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs, is to embark on a project, that is hoped will ease the extensive traffic flow in the Mina area. The plan is for the construction of an underground tunnel from King Abdul Aziz Bridge in the north through to King Fahd Tunnel in Al-Shisha District, the Jeddah-based Saudi Gazette reported today. Dr. Habib Zein Al-Abideen, undersecretary at the Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs, said the objective of the project is to get rid of intermingling of pedestrians and motorists, clear the center of Mina of any vehicular traffic and make it exclusively for pedestrians. Under the SR 200 million project, the flow of pilgrims will be equally distributed; 50 percent from the east of the bridge and 50 percent from the west. The new 3-kilometer-long tunnel will begin to operate during this year's Hajj season and will have four lanes, two in-coming and two out-bound with a further two for transporting pilgrims out of Mina via the King Fahd Tunnel in Al-Shisha. With full services on the road, the underground tunnel will be linked to escalators from the ground level specifically for departing pilgrims.
