The Public Works Authority ‘Ashghal’ opened on Sunday 15 September Ras Al Noof Interchange and Tinbak Interchange, as part of  Al Khor Road project, in presence of representatives from the General Directorate of Traffic, Ras Laffan Industrial City, along with a number of engineers from Ashghal and the Contracting Company.

The new interchanges are located in the north of Al Khor Road, serving many residential areas, vital facilities, economic, sports and leisure activities, such as Ras Laffan, Ras Al Noof and Tinbak, as well as Al Bayt Stadium.

Ras Al Noof Interchange

 Ras Al Noof Interchange is located at the entrance of Al Khor City. The new interchange consists of two levels consisting of a main bridge with a length of 100 meters of two lanes in each direction; four loops and four exits.

Ras Al Noof interchange provides a free traffic flow to Al Bayt Stadium and an easy access to Ras Laffan bypassing Al Khor, which reduces travel time, and serves directly the nearby areas such as Ras Al Noof, Al Khor in addition to Al Khor Airfield and Al Farkiya Beach.

Tinbak Interchange

Tinbak Interchange is located at exit 47 on Al Khor Road, 7.5 kilometers from Al Khor City. The interchange consists of two levels and contains a main bridge with a length of 100 includes two roundabouts provide accesses to facilitate traffic in all directions.

Tinbak Interchange is an important link between traffic coming from Al Shamal road towards Al Khor road. It provides an easy access to those coming from Al Khor or Doha in the direction of Tibak, Al Jeryan and surrounding areas as well as North Semaisma.

Hassan Maejeba: Completion of 6 out of 10 Interchanges

On this occasion, Hassan Saeedan Maejeba, project engineer, confirmed that Ashghal opened Ras Al Noof and Tinbak interchange as part of the works of Al Khor Road. He pointed out that with this opening, the completion of Al Khor Road has reached more than 92%. Four interchanges, parts of service roads, cycle and pedestrian paths remain, the project is scheduled for completion in the second quarter of 2020.

Maejeba explained that the new interchanges serve areas such as Al Khor north road, Al Khor, Ras Laffan, Ras Al Nouf, Tinbak in addition to Al Bayt Stadium, Al Khor Airfield, Al Farkiya Beach and others, pointing out that Ras Al Noof Interchange provides an easy access to Ras Al Noof area which includes new subdivisions for citizens and encourages the development of the area quickly.

Nasser Al Hajri: Ras Al Noof is directly connected to Al Bayt Stadium

For his part, Dr. Nasser Hamad Al-Hajri, Executive Director of Al Bayt Stadium project, he was pleased with the completion of most parts of Al Khor Road, pointing that the opening of Al Khor Road will help ease the access to Al Bayt Stadium and Lusail Stadium.

He explained that Ras al Noof Interchange is particularly important as it is directly connected to the Al Bayt Stadium providing a free flow to the stadium.

Muhammad Mesfir Al Hajri : Easy Access to Ras Laffan Bypassing Al Khor
Captain Engineer Muhammad Mesfir Al Hajri praised the coordination between the General Directorate of Traffic and the Public Works Authority ‘Ashghal’, noting that both of them are working in two parallel lines. 

 He stressed the importance of the opening in improving traffic, explaining that one of the important advantages of Ras Al Noof interchange is that people coming from Al Khor Road can directly reach Ras Laffan without the need to driving through Al Khor, reducing travel time as well as  traffic congestion in Al Khor.

He added that Tinbak Interchange is an important link for road users coming from both Doha and North Road, where the interchange provides accesses in all directions.

Facts and Figures

Upgrading works on Al Khor Road started in the last quarter of 2016 to reach 92% of progress. A large section of road preparation works was completed comprising of 11.2 million cubic metres of filling and compacting works, 1.95 million tonnes of asphalting and 542 thousand cubic metres of concrete. Infrastructure development work has also been completed within the scope of the project. 105 km of rainwater and sewage water drainage lines to prevent water accumulation during the rainy season and 80.8 km to extend the pipeline for irrigation and treated water treatment network along with 155 km of electricity and 249 km of telecommunications network.

Benefits of Al khor Road

“The alternative to Al Shamal Road that will enhance north-east and south-west connectivity”

In March, Ashghal opened the 33-kilometer-long main road of Al Khor Road after successfully converting the old road into a highway from Al Khor Road in Al Khor to Qatar University Street in Doha. It is planned to increase the number of lanes to five lanes in each direction to accommodate about 20000 vehicles per hour in both directions, instead of two lanes in each direction to accommodate 8000 vehicles per hour. This contributes to increasing the capacity of the road and enhancing the traffic safety of Ashghal by providing two other emergency lanes.

Al Khor Coastal Road main carriageway serves as an alternative to Al Shamal Road as it allows road users coming from Al Khor to reach their desired destinations while saving the travel time by up to 65% in less than 20 minutes, primarily, Al Khor Road directly serves more than 20 residential areas alongside its carriageway in addition to a number of economic, commercial and public amenities in the surrounding areas.

“The corridor of the east coast development”

In addition to being an alternative and parallel Road to Al Shamal Road and the main link between the north and east of Qatar, Al Khor Road will create a new demographic and urban areas extending along the east coast of Doha to Al Khor and Ras Laffan. The road will become the center of development to encourage the population of Doha to move outside the historic city and to reconstruct the eastern areas of Qatar to Al Khor, so Lusail will become the wanted city to live in. The project will open the door for more investment, whether in the field of business or real estate or increase the agricultural area.

Unique Road

Al Khor Road is one of the unique roads in Qatar due to its special railway on the wide central median of the road, which is scheduled to link Al khor and Doha in two major stations, which will provide other alternatives of transportation to residents of the areas it passes.

Challenges

The Public Works Authority ‘Ashghal’ was able to deliver 92% of the project in a record time despite the challenges faced during the construction time.

The construction of the project required full closure of 9 kilometres of the road from Simaisma Interchange to Qatar University Street for a period of 18 months while diverting traffic to Al Shamal Road. Ashghal was committed to finish all road works without any delay.

Remaining sections

Ashghal is working on completing the remaining sections of the road, which include the construction of 34 kilometres of Olympic cycle track on one side of the carriageway and 33 kilometres of shared paths for pedestrians and cyclists on the other side, as well as the construction of 42 pedestrian and cycle underpasses.

Al Khor Expressway is a major link to main roads

Al Khor Expressway and Al Shamal Road:

Al Khor Expressway connects to several main roads, which connects to the parallel Al Shamal Road such as Al khor, Simaisma and Al Majd Roads as well as Al Turfa Street. These connections offer a variety of options for road users to travel between the northern and eastern areas in addition to western and southern areas via Al Majd Road.

Al Khor Road and Al Majd Road:

The opening of Al Majd Road almost seven months ago has significantly contributed in linking the traffic coming from Al Khor Road and vice versa especially that Al Majd Road intersects with all other arterial roads in the country such as Al Shamal Road, Dukhan Road, Salwa Road to Mesaieed Road. Therefore, residents of Doha and the eastern areas of the country are now able to use Doha Expressway to access all the external areas bypassing the centre of Doha. Resident of West Bay, Lusail and the surrounding areas can easily access Al Wakra and Al Wukair and vice versa using Al Majd Road and the new Al Khor Road.

Residential Areas

Al Khor Road along with Doha and Al khor serves more than 20 residential areas such as Simaisma, Umm Qarn, Tinbak, Wadi Al Banat, Rawdat Al Hamama, Legtaifiya, Lusail, The Pearl and Al Turfa.

The new road also facilitates access to Mesaieed and Dukhan through its interchange with Al Majd Road.

Sport Facilities

Al Khor Road is a major link to a number of 2022 FIFA World Cup stadiums. It provides direct connection to Lusail and Al Bayt stadiums and facilitates access to Al Rayyan and Education City stadiums through its connection to Al Majd Road. Additionally, the new road facilitates access to Simaisma and Al Khor Youth Centres, Al Khor Sports Club, Lusail Sports Complex and Doha Golf Club.

Economic Facilities

Al Khor Road will serve a number of economic and vital facilities such as Rass Laffan, Lusail City, The Pearl and West Bay, all business and vital facilities and hotels. Furthermore, it will facilitate access to Al Daayen Services Complex and Lusail Reserves.

Leisure Facilities

The newly opened road will also provide enhanced traffic flow to a numbers of recreational and tourist destinations such as Katara, Simaisma Beach, Al Farkiya Beach, Al Daayen Celebration Hall Complex and Al khor Corniche.

Educational Institutions

Al Khor Road facilitates access to some of the most prestigious educational institutions in the State of Qatar such as Qatar University, Community College of Qatar, Qatar Leadership Academy, and Doha Institute for Graduate Studies and College of the North Atlantic.