Traffic jams ‘for next 5 years’

DOHA’S traffic congestion will continue for the next five years, traffic department director Brigadier Mohamed Saad al-Kharji has told the Central Municipal Council, local Arabic newspapers reported.Al-Kharji was replying to a report on the subject presented to the CMC.
The CMC on Tuesday took up for discussion the report prepared by its committee for services and amenities on the basis of an extensive field study of traffic congestion.
Al-Kharji, head of traffic planning and safety Col Mohamed Abdur Rahim Marafi and senior officials of the Public Works Authority (Ashghal) attended the session as special invitees.
In light of the report’s findings, there was a unanimous demand from the CMC members that a special body should be constituted to oversee implementation of the ongoing road development projects and to carry out maintenance work.
CMC deputy chairman Jasim Abdullah al-Malky, who headed the committee that authored the report, called for steps to ease the problem.
“It appears that the traffic department has become incapable of carrying out its fundamental duties such as handling traffic bottlenecks so as to cover all such points during peak hours,” he said.
He cited “non-maintenance of the pavements, dividers and lane markings on the main roads and streets.”
“We need to chalk out a 10-year plan for the development and maintenance of our roads. There should be an independent body to oversee implementation of the road projects,” al-Malky said.
“There should be a convenient gap in the timings between school and office hours so as to avoid congestion of traffic and facilitate easy movement for the public.
“Many of the complaints and requests made by the council members to the traffic department have remained unattended to since 2003.
“These pertain to the problems of potholes on some main roads and many inner streets, and absence of proper signposts on many streets especially near schools, mosques and hospitals.”
Replying to these remarks and those made by several other CMC members, al-Kharji said traffic congestion was a natural corollary to the ongoing road development projects that were part of the multi-faceted urban development of the country as a whole.
“The congestion will continue for the next five years. In the given situation the department is doing its best to cope with the problems,” he said.
“We have sought the help of the Qatari air force to monitor the most congested traffic points. And we are considering the idea of blocking traffic on the inner streets that connect to the intersections. We intend to do this during peak hours to avoid a rush of vehicles.
“Several radars that have been damaged as a result of road accidents have still not been replaced because of the innumerable procedures involving the courts and insurance firms.
“Most of the road accidents occur because of undisciplined driving and a disregard for the traffic regulations. I appeal to all motorists to drive cautiously in keeping with the regulations,” al-Kharji said.

Source: http://www.gulf-times.com/site/topics/article.asp?cu_no=2&item_no=257146&version=1&template_id=36&parent_id=16

:bash: wow i remmember once i was in the car heading to dafna via the Al-Waab road which is in my opinion, the best road in Qatar... (for now), the traffic that day horrified me ! more that two hours on the road ! going on alshamal road i would have already reached alruwais... there was litrelly a gridlock ! there where so many cars waiting for the green light that the ones coming up from the traffic signal behind couldnt do anything, the cant move !! it took 3-4 green lights to move from one signal to the other !

its mean. ashghal launched 5 year plan b4 5 years to change the shape of qatar roads, only one year left, and they had promised to change the shape of the road in qatar in 2009. but today they will again said, thy need 5 years more to sort out the traffic solution. whats going on. doha expressway nearly on the final stage, dukhan highway, shamal highway, new ras abu abord highway, abu samra highway, all projects nearly on the completion stage, it should be reduced the traffic congestion......

its not that, the 5 year plan is acctually great, but if you consider places like salwa road and the corniesh, there not included in the plan, btw by salwa road i mean the inside parts not the main highway outside doha which is btw GREAT !...

So they are saying that they have made little progress in five years! ( since 2003 ). I got to Doha in 2006 and the situation is far worse now than it was then, even with the increase in the number of cars on the roads.

It's just a classic Qatar thought process ... invite hundreds of thousands of people into the country and pay no thought to how they are going to get around ... no infrastructure in place before the floodgates open.

Talk about cart before the horse ... and in a country where they had the opportunity to get it right from the outset!

When the hell will they open D-ring?

^^ 2009 ???

the d ring road . is it open in the begining of 2009 ??????

well atleast the chaos of the airport road ended long ago.... now we have like 10-18 interchanges and about 20 signals left to be built ? :bash:

i've hearing about the 5 year plan 6 years back and now it's gonna take another 5 more years.. i bet its gonna take more than that...

^^ Well, the 5 years plan ends in 2009, with the delays 2010. that is for Doha express way
Lusail freeway however, is scheduled for 2010 maybe or 2011 ?

well salwa road is ending very soon (from my prespective) since i use it sometimes to travel to Dubai by car and such... seems that it will end by mid 2009....

whats the progess of doha expressway ,, r they complete the all interchanges or nt?

whats the progess of doha expressway ,, r they complete the all interchanges or nt?

As far as I know theres big problems with the contractors, so both the Soudan and Rayyan interchanges are on hold...

Apparently the contractor is refusing to work because they have run out of money for the project, and the government are not paying up because the contractor underbid for the project and is already quite late with it. I have no idea what is going on with it, but this project is already very late and doesn't look like finishing any time soon. From what i've seen, the structural works for the most part are done, and its only a few months of work left, but with everything on hold who knows what will happen.

Basically, one big mess. Big surprise. :ohno:

^^ the industrial interchange is also onhold because of the contractor.... it seems everyone has run out of money suddenly... even the Barwa housing project in saliya is onhold because of the contractors...