DOHA: Public Works Authority (Ashghal) yesterday announced that the new Orbital Highway and Truck Route forms a fundamental part of its Expressway Programme which involves construction of a highway network that will transform road travel in Qatar.
The ‘Orbital’ (a reference to Orbital Road and Truck route) is a vital addition to the road network as it will facilitate a free flowing traffic route without the need to travel through Doha City, helping alleviate congestions and better manage the movement of heavy vehicles.
The project will relieve traffic congestions in Doha and offer people an alternative route with faster journey times between Al Khor in the north and Mesaieed in the south. It will be a safe, swift, efficient and high quality highway that will provide better connectivity to Mesaieed Industrial City and Ras Laffan Industrial City.
Providing the backbone of the growing road network, Orbital will see construction of around 200km of new dual carriageway and 22 multi-level interchanges, typically four and five lanes with the capacity of two more on either side. Infrastructure of Orbital Road will include passways for camels, weighing stations, side road parking bays, storm water drainage, intelligent transportation systems, control systems, green landscape and metal beam guardrails on both sides of roads.
Designed with road users in mind, the highway and truck route provides heavy vehicles with a separate roadway, allowing traffic to flow freely and safely along main expressways, Ashghal said. Orbital will become significant in the movement of people and goods. It aims to manage up to 1,500 heavy goods vehicles per hour in each direction and can cater for general traffic volumes at about 8,000 vehicles per hour in each direction.
Contract 1 for the project includes about 45km of road network and represents 25 percent of the 200km Orbital highway.
The project is on the southwest of Doha and provides a new dual carriageway connecting New Doha Port and Al Wakra bypass, with other phases of New Orbital Highway, and construction of a road linking Mesaieed Road to East/West Corridor. The cross section of roads will provide four lanes in each direction with the provision of two future lanes. Work on the contract started in Q1, 2014.
Contract 2 encompasses about 48km of new dual carriageway that includes eight grade-separated interchanges consisting of seven lanes in each direction. It is on the west and north of Doha City, starting at Salwa Road, passing through Dukhan Road and North Road up to North Relief Road. The new road forms part of New Orbital Highway that connects the south and north of Qatar. Work on the contract started in Q2, 2014.
Contract 3 includes about 55km of dual carriageway, five two-level interchanges with seven lanes in each direction.
Located to the southwest of Doha, it starts at Mesaieed Industrial City Interchange, reaching Salwa Road, connecting side roads Mesaieed Road 1, Wukair Road 1 and Wukair Road 2, and East-West Corridor to New Orbital Highway.
The contract provides a vital connection between contracts 1 and 2. Work on this part of the project commenced in Q2, 2014.
Contract 4 involves 42km of new dual carriageway, including five grade-separated interchanges. It is on the west and north of Doha City, providing connection between Contract 2 of New Orbital Highway and Truck Route at Dukhan Highway to North Road and Al Khor Link Road. Work on this part of the project commenced in Q2, 2014.
The Peninsula
