The Public Works Authority ‘Ashghal’ announces the opening of 5 new parts at the Mesaimeer Interchange in the presence of Eng. Youssef Al Emadi, Projects Affairs Director, Eng. Bader Darwish, Highway Project Department Manager, Members of the Municipal Council Mrs. Sheikha Al Jufairi, Mrs. Fatima Al Kuwari, Mr. Abdul Rahman Al Khulaifi Brig Mohammed Marafih, Director of Engineering Traffic Safety Department, along with a number of Ashghal officials and engineers and representatives of the contractor company.

Ashghal refers to the opening of the 3 km  road linking Doha Expressway and the southern part of the Doha Expressway to provide a free traffic flow for those coming from Doha towards Al Wakra and Al Wukair. Noting that the other direction from the road that connects Al Wakra and Al Wukair towards Doha will be opened in the second quarter of 2020.

Ashghal notes the opening of a new tunnel linking Doha Expressway to E-Ring Road with a length of 750 meters, traffic has opened from Industrial area road towards E-Ring Road, Rawdhat Al Khail Street and Doha Expressway. As the opening includes a new 1 km tunnel towards the E-Ring Road, in addition to opening the 1 km bridge towards Rawdhat Al Khail Street and D-Ring Road to make the bridge open in both directions. In addition, a 500 metres exit loop leading to the Doha expressway will be opened to directly link the traffic coming from the Industrial Area towards Doha Expressway.

“Traffic Closure”
To complete Mesaimeer Interchange works, Ashghal will close the traffic coming from Mesaimeer Interchange towards the Wholesale Market Street, road users must use Industrial Area Road then Sabah Al Ahmad Corridor reaching Wholesale Market Street to their destinations.

On this occasion, Eng. Ahmed Ali Al Emadi confirmed that the new openings will provide a free traffic flow in all directions, especially with the elimination of a number of traffic diversions and the provision of a direct link between many different roads. He pointed out that those coming from Doha and Al Shamal towards Mesaieed, Al Wakra and Al Wukair via 22 February Street can directly reach their destinations after opening the road linking the Doha Expressway and the southern part of the Doha Expressway.

He added that the new openings mainly serve those coming from the Industrial Area in all directions, especially with the opening of the new bridge between the Industrial Area Road and Rawdhat Al Khail Street in both directions. As the bridge was open in only one direction towards the industrial area, however, the bridge has currently become open in both directions to facilitate a free traffic flow between the Industrial Area and central Doha.

For her part, Mrs. Sheikha Al Jufairi, a member of the Central Municipal Council, confirmed that the new openings will serve many residential areas such as Nuaija and Al Hilal along with the old airport and facilitate access to several major roads.

Mr. Abdul Rahman Al Khulaifi, a member of the Central Municipal Council, said that the openings link Doha to the southern parts where road users coming from Al Mamoura and Bu Hamour or the Doha Expressway can directly reach Al Wakra and Al Wukair, the Interchange also facilitates access to the industrial area, Umm Al Saneem, Ain Khalid and other residential areas and vital facilities.

Mrs. Fatima Al Kuwari, a member of the Central Municipal Council, affirmed that the Mesaimeer Interchange is an important link connecting many vital economic, educational, and health facilities where the interchange will reduce traffic and provide alternative routes away from the center of Doha, where it connects to six main roads linking many vital external areas in central Doha, to serve Al Thumama area, Al Thumama Stadium directly, and many other residential areas

Features of the Interchange
The new three-level interchange is the first of its kind in Qatar as it contains nine underpasses providing free flow traffic. The interchange also consists of two major bridges. One of them connects Rawdhat Al Khail Street and Industrial area road in both directions, and the other one connecting E-Ring Road with the southern part of Doha Expressway in one direction, ensuring a smooth flow of traffic in all directions.

The 6.1 km long, interchange consists of three to four lanes in each direction to accommodate about 30,000 vehicles per hour in both directions.

The new interchange on completed in the second quarter of 2020 will significantly improve traffic flow, reducing travel time by more than 70% of travel time.

Hexagonal Interchange
The Mesaimeer Interchange is the first of its kind in Qatar connecting six main roads, namely Mesaimeer Interchange, Doha Expressway, southern part of Doha Expressway, Sabah Al Ahmed Corridor, Industrial Area Road and Rawdhat Al Khail Street.

The interchange also provides a vital traffic link between the south, central and north of the country. It links traffic from the south through the southern part of Doha Expressway, main carriageway of Doha Expressway and Al Shamal Road.

It also connects traffic between Industrial area road and the heart of Doha through a connection to Rawdat Al Khail Street, which intersects with D-ring and C-Ring Road, as well as between the busy areas of Nuaija, Al Thumama, Bu Hamour, Al Maamoura, Mesaimeer providing an easy access to Al Wakra, Al Wukair and the Industrial area

It is located in a vital area that has many facilities including Al Thumama Stadium, one of the World Cup stadiums, where the interchange has three pedestrian bridges to ease people’s access to Al Thumama Stadium.

The interchange also serves many important educational, health and commercial facilities such as the Medical Commission, Meteorological Department, many schools, health centers and nearby shopping malls.

Integral to Sabah Al Ahmad Corridor
The Mesaimeer Interchange integrates with Sabah Al Ahmad Corridor linking Al-Wattiyyat Interchange, which is a strategic link between the southern part of Doha Expressway and its main highway. This link provides a free flow traffic between the north and south of the country through Doha. The project is one of the vital interchanges in the country, with two levels comprising three bridges and four underpasses for easy access of vehicles to nearby residential area of Al Thumama, Mesaimeer, Bu Hamour, Nuaija, Al Wakra and Al Wukair. The interchange provides a free flow traffic for commuters from these areas to Hamad International Airport, to southern areas, Doha and northern areas of the country.