ASHGHAL ANNOUNCES THE OPENING OF THE CORNICHE STREET ON OCTOBER 15 SIX WEEKS AHEAD OF ORIGINALLY PLANNED DATE The Public Works Authority ‘Ashghal’ today announced that converting roundabouts to signal-controlled intersections will be finished and the Corniche Street will be completely open to traffic on 15 October, six weeks prior to the originally planned date, which is right after laying the final asphalt layer in the coming days and activating the traffic lights. The Corniche will be completely open to traffic from Tuesday 15 October, while works to convert the internal roundabouts to intersections (Onaiza, Lejbailat and Al Maha) will be carried on during November. On the occasion, ‘Ashghal’ thanked all road users who have been tolerant with traffic congestions for the past three months. The Authority also expressed its gratitude to the State traffic police and Lekhwiya who worked relentlessly to ensure the traffic flow without blocking the construction and infrastructure works, as well as Qatar General Electricity and Water Corporation (Kahramaa), the gardens department at the ministry of municipality and urban planning and other government entities for their support. This support helped ‘Ashghal’ meet its set goal of achieving the work on the Doha Corniche sooner than planned. The three contracted companies worked relentlessly with ‘Ashghal’ team to complete it in a record time, and they succeeded in finishing the works without the full closure of the Corniche area, winning one of the biggest engineering challenges in developing main roads. As part of the upgrade works, road users will notice that the number of lanes at intersections have been increased to ease the U-turn and left turn without affecting the traffic flow. This space was gained from the central medians. Roundabouts that have been converted into signal-controlled junctions include Museum of Islamic Art, Diwan, the National Theatre, Wadi Al Sail, Qatar Post,in addition to the Grand Hamad Street intersection and Al-Mina intersection. Another key feature of the Corniche is the increase in the number of safe pedestrian crossings. All traffic signals are equipped with pedestrian traffic lights to ensure safety of road users and decrease the number of fatalities of unsecured crossing of the street. These signals will be controlled through the new Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS). These systems react to the volume of traffic creating a so-called ‘green-wave’; maximising the number of green lights ahead of heavy traffic, creating smoother traffic flow and less congestion. The benefit of this is traffic will flow much smoother and faster from and to the Corniche area than before, reducing journey times, increasing safety and removing the need to slow down and stop at every intersection as was the case with roundabouts. The work on the Corniche project began in July last year to take advantage of the summer vacation time. This work was performed around the clock in order to achieve it before the set deadline. On the basis of its commitment to expedite completion of this vital project, Ashghal contracted three large construction companies to work 24/7 for its implementation in record time and according to high quality standards, especially as the Corniche is an important interface in the state. - ILQ News -

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