H.E. the Minister of Municipality and Environment (MME) Mohamed bin Abdullah Al Rumaihi visited the construction site of contract two and contract four of the New Orbital Highway and Truck Route "The Orbital", which is one of Ashghal's expressway projects which has been designed to link the areas north and south of Qatar. The Minister was received by H.E. Eng. Nasser bin Ali Al Mawlawi, President of the Public Works Authority, Eng. Jalal Yousef Al Salhi, Director of Infrastructure Affairs, Eng. Nasser Ghaith Al Kuwari, Manager of Ashghal’s Expressway Department, and Mr. Abdulla Al Attiyah, Technical Office Manager at Ashghal.
Prior to the tour, H.E. the Minister held a meeting with the project's consulting and contracting representatives as well as Ashghal officials during which he received a detailed briefing about all four contracts of "The Orbital" Highway. Following the meeting, His Excellency went on to inspect the onsite progress on contracts two and four and the milestones achieved thus far by Ashghal on this vital project. It is worth mentioning that the main lanes of contracts two and four will be open to traffic by the end of 2017.
The New Orbital Highway and Truck Route is considered a vital addition to the road network of Qatar as it will form a free flowing traffic route connecting the south of Qatar to its North. The project is located to the west, north and south of Doha, and it will see the construction of around 200 km of new dual carriageway stretching from Mesaieed in the south to west of Al Khor in the north. The Orbital road will include 22 main interchanges, including bridges and underpasses, that will connect the Orbital to the main roads and expressways of the East-West Corridor Project, Salwa Road, Dukhan Highway, and Al Shamal Road.
When complete the Orbital will provide a swift and efficient highway that will provide better connectivity for Qatar's most important industrial areas; namely Mesaieed, New Hamad Port, Dukhan, Al Khor, and Ras Laffan, without the need to travel through the main residential communities of Al Wakra, Doha, and Al Khor. This will help to alleviate congestion and better manage vehicle movement in these areas.
Consisting of seven lanes in each direction, the new highway and truck route provides heavy vehicles with their own separate roadway with two truck lanes in each direction, allowing traffic to flow freely and safely along main expressways. The Orbital will become nationally significant in the movement of people and good around the country. It is designed to manage up to 1500 Heavy Good Vehicles (HGV) per hour in each direction; it can cater for general traffic volumes at approximately 8,000 vehicles per hour in each direction.
Major infrastructure improvements will be implemented as part of the project, including a storm water drainage network, treated sewage effluent networks for irrigation, communications networks, street lighting, and ITS. Allowance for the future long distance rail and freight rail lines has been also accommodated. The project will also provide services infrastructure including underpasses for camels, weighing stations, side road parking bays, green landscape and metal beam guardrails along the road.
During the site tour His Excellency inspected the works on contract two of the Orbital. This contract starts at Salwa Road, passing through Dukhan Highway and North Road, and up to the North Relief Road. It encompasses approximately 48 km new dual carriageway consisting of seven lanes in each direction and includes eight two-level interchanges as follows: North Road / New Orbital Highway, New Orbital Highway / Al Gharrafa Expressway, New Orbital Highway / Al Rifa Road
New Orbital Highway / Al Rayyan Mall and Stadium Access Road, Dukhan Highway / New Orbital Highway, New Orbital Highway / Truck Route, New Orbital Highway / Sailiya Street, Dukhan Highway / Truck Route.
His Excellency also visited the worksite of contract four which consists of a 42 km, stretching from Dukhan Road up to west of Al Khor city. This contract includes five multi-level interchanges as follows: Local Access Road, Gharrafa Road, Al Mazroo'a Road, Al Khor Link Road, North Road.