Top regional road projects

The widening of Salam Street & Mina Road is one of Abu Dhabi's key road improvement projects

There is no doubt that road congestion costs logistics and transportation companies money. Dr Salem Al Shafiei, a regional transportation expert, estimated recently that the equivalent of 3.5% of the UAE’s GDP is lost annually to traffic congestion.

“We lose around AED 10.5 billion on traffic congestion annually, if we take into account both passenger traffic and heavy goods traffic,” he told local reporters.

The good news is that regional governments, despite being buffeted by the global economic slowdown, are pressing ahead with massive roadbuilding projects.

Dubai, for example, has committed hundreds of millions to the widening and improvement of Al Khail Road, a vital artery for construction and commuter traffic.

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Kuwait is floating a number of road projects, including the US $250 million 42km Nawaseeb highway and a US $200 million upgrade of the First Ring Road.

In its 2009 budget, Saudi Arabia announced it has allocated SR 11.5 billion (US $3.06 billion) for road construction projects this year. The Minister of Transport, who made the announcement, said the length of roads built this year would total 8250 kilometres.

The region’s recent economic slowdown has done nothing to slow governments’ plans. While many residential building projects are cancelled or on hold, construction on roads continues and new projects continue to be awarded.

Here, we present ten road projects that will help keep the wheels of the region’s economies turning.

Click here to view the first five projects.