Jeddah’s bridges, tunnels ease traffic congestion

January 21, 2015

Jeddah, Jan 21: Jeddah will have a smoother traffic flow thanks to the bridges and tunnels projects the mayoralty is implementing with coordination with Jeddah traffic administration, said Zaid Al-Hamzi, spokesman for the Jeddah traffic police.

Jeddah Bridges

Al-Hamzi said the new projects will facilitate traffic movement and ease congestions by 70 percent.

These remarks came after the inauguration of the King Fahd (Sitteen) Road bridge across Heraa Street (White Horse Square) and Prince Sultan Bin Salman Street. The 2.5-km long and 56 meter wide bridge has a capacity of carrying 2,000 cars at the same time. With three lanes on each way of traffic, it gives the area a 100 percent flexibility and release traffic for Heraa and Prince Sultan Bin Salman streets.

Jeddah Mayor Hani Abu Ras on Sunday opened traffic on the bridge that is considered the longest in Jeddah.

Abu Ras said the mayoralty is keen on easing the traffic jams in Jeddah by implementing a series of connecting tunnels and bridges to release the traffic in the main roads and intersections, “The Jeddah mayoralty has carried out 22 projects for easing traffic congestions in the past five years, including constructing 18 bridges and 10 tunnels,” he added saying that these projects have decreased the commuting time in Jeddah.

The project is the sixth project to be implemented on the Sitteen Street (north-south) as Jeddah celebrated opening the industrial institute intersection bridge, Quraish street intersection bridge, Al-Tahlia intersection, King Abdullah road tunnel, and Gharnata street bridge.

Abu Ras said that citizens and visitors of Jeddah will celebrate the opening of a bridge at the intersection between Madinah Road and Haleema Al-Saadia Street in the upcoming month. He pointed out the King Fahd intersection bridge with Al-Rawda Street (the Bicycle Square). The bridge is a 583-meter-long,13.5-meter-wide and has three lanes for each traffic side.

The mayor added the final designs are being put to King Fahd Road tunnel at the intersection with Al-Falak and Sari streets, adding that the project will be rendered soon. The project is part of releasing traffic congestion project at the King Fahd Road (Sitteen), especially that this important road links between King Abdulaziz International Airport and Jeddah Islamic Port.

Abu Ras said work is under way for seven bridges and tunnels projects, including King Abdulaziz intersection tunnel with Palestine and Al-Hamra streets, King Fahd Road (The bicycle) intersection with Al-Rawda, Prince Majed intersection with Bani Malik road-bridge, Madinah Road and Haleema Al-Saadia intersection bridge, Prince Majed intersection tunnel and bridge with old Makkah Road, Al-Mahjar intersection bridge with Zenel and Television streets, Al-Mahjar intersection bridge with King Faisal Road (The southern Corniche).

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Agencies
June 29,2020

Protests condemning the Israeli plan to annex parts of the occupied West Bank are set to take place in the United States and Europe on the same day prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu plans to begin the process.

The demonstrations will be held on Wednesday in Chicago, San Diego, Brooklyn, Los Angeles and San Francisco. Other Western cities will also witness similar protests, including Toronto, Madrid and Valencia.

Students for Justice in Palestine, Jewish Voice for Peace, and American Muslims for Palestine are among the pro-Palestinian groups organizing the protests.

The Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network, one of the organizers, urged "direct actions and popular mobilizations in [Palestinian] refugee camps, cities and villages," and professed "loyalty to the martyrs" on its call for the events.

Another group, Al-Awda or the Palestinian Right to Return Coalition, decried "72 years of genocide, ethnic cleansing and dispossession" of Palestinians.

It also tied their demonstrations to the protests against anti-black racism in the US and beyond.

"We demand the defunding and dismantling of US police alongside the defunding and dismantling of Zionist colonialism and racist Israeli apartheid," Al-Awda said on its website.

Netanyahu has set July 1 as the date for the start of cabinet discussions on the annexation plan.

He has been driven ahead by US President Donald Trump, who unveiled a “peace” plan for the Middle East in January that effectively sidelines the Palestinians altogether.

The plan, which Trump himself has described as the “deal of the century,” envisions Jerusalem al-Quds as “Israel’s undivided capital” and allows the Tel Aviv regime to annex settlements in the occupied West Bank and the Jordan Valley. The plan also denies Palestinian refugees the right of return to their homeland, among other controversial terms.

The Palestinians want the West Bank as part of a future independent Palestinian state with East Jerusalem al-Quds as its capital.

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Agencies
April 2,2020

Ankara, Apr 2: Saudi Arabia on Thursday declared a 24-hour lockdown in all parts of Makkah and Medina cities as part of measures to stem the spread of the coronavirus.

"The 24-hour curfew will be imposed in all parts of the cities of Makkah and Medina, with a ban on entry and exit from both cities," the Saudi Interior Ministry said on Twitter.

The lockdown starts from Thursday “until further notice.”

All commercial activities inside the residential neighborhoods of the two cities were also prohibited, except for pharmacies, food products stores, gas stations and banking services, the ministry said.

After first appearing in Wuhan, China last December, the virus has spread to at least 180 countries and regions, according to U.S.-based Johns Hopkins University.

Its data shows the number of confirmed cases worldwide have surpassed 962,900, with the death toll over 49,100 and more than 202,700 recoveries.

Anadolu Agency website contains only a portion of the news stories offered to subscribers in the AA News Broadcasting System (HAS), and in summarized form. Please contact us for subscription options.
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Agencies
June 9,2020

Dubai, Jun 9: Dubai's Emirates airline has begun laying off employees to reduce cost and save cash as the carrier looks to rightsize its workforce.

"We at Emirates have been doing everything possible to retain the talented people that make up our workforce for as long as we can. However, given the significant impact that the pandemic has had on our business, we simply cannot sustain excess resources and have to rightsize our workforce in line with our reduced operations. After reviewing all scenarios and options, we deeply regret that we have to let some of our people go," the spokesperson said in the statement.

Citing sources, Reuters and Bloomberg earlier reported that a majority of those being made redundant are cabin crew workers as well as a minority of its engineers and pilots, including those flew the Airbus A380.

"This was a very difficult decision and not one that we took lightly. The company is doing everything possible to protect the workforce wherever we can. Where we are forced to take tough decisions we will treat people with fairness and respect. We will work with impacted employees to provide them with all possible support," said the statement.

The spokesperson, however, didn't disclose how many employees are being made redundant in this latest round of rightsizing the workforce.

Emirates on Sunday confirmed that it extended the period of reduced pay for its staff for another three months till September. It had previously reduced basic wages by 25 to 50 per cent for three months from April, with junior employees exempted.

The airline had employed around 60,000 people at the end of its 2019-20 financial year.

Saj Ahmad, chief analyst at StrategicAero Research, said the announced job cuts at Emirates will likely not be the last given the unprecedented damage that Covid-19 has had not just on air travel, but on the entire aviation industry as a whole.

"Emirates' massive international network means that job reductions were always a last resort option as the company staves off cash burn and expenses at a time when revenues are dried up. While Emirates SkyCargo is enjoying a resurgence in activities, the reality is that this income will never offset the lost money from passenger operations," he added.

"Whilst some salary reduction schemes have prevented bigger job cuts for now, the absence of a cure or medicinal suppressant of Covid-19 means that air travel is unlikely to even reach pre-9/11 levels within 3-5 years, let alone pre-Covid-19 levels in that same time period. For that reason, Emirates' reduction in headcount is necessary to stay competitive, agile and be ready for when air travel can resume with a degree of normalcy that we have been accustomed to for decades," said Ahmad.

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