HE the Minister of State for Internal Affairs Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa al-Thani with Ashghal and AECOM officials at the agreement signing ceremony
By Sarmad Qazi

The entire road network in Qatar is set to be studied from the perspective of safety, including work-zone safety, speed limits and road accidents.
The nearly five-year-long (1,820 days) road safety consultancy services contract worth QR23.9mn was awarded by Public Works Authority (Ashghal) to AECOM International.
AECOM will now deliver five key elements of the contract in as many years: develop a comprehensive road safety strategy for Qatar, develop a work-zone safety management programme, design road safety audits, set appropriate speed limits, and develop a road accidents management plan.
Because of the nature of the contract, HE the Minister of State for Internal Affairs, Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa al-Thani, also attended along with internal security officials.
Ashghal president Engineer Nasser al-Mawlawi said the contract was a massive undertaking with co-operation required from ministries of interior and municipality and urban planning as well as host of other stakeholders.
“This road safety contract will include all roads in Qatar, including the smaller streets,” al-Mawlawi told Gulf Times.
AECOM Middle East transportation planning director Ian Dudgeon said: “We will aim to deliver the strategy in 12 months’ time. It will be up to Ashghal to see how and when they would like to implement the recommendations.”
In the road safety strategy, AECOM will study the existing road safety situation including legalities, design, implementation, maintenance, awareness and training, compliance and law enforcement and emergency services. It will then submit a detailed presentation before relevant bodies.
The work-zone safety management programme development will include public policies and technical specifications, manual of traffic safety in work zones and monitoring.
Work-zone safety is something that was bit of a concern to Ashghal, as Engineer al-Mawlawi said: “Work zone management in Qatar currently has shortcomings”.
The road safety audits programme will include updating the terms of assessment of existing roads on the basis of international specifications, while the fourth programme of setting appropriate speed limits will include analysis of current limits and study of the effectiveness of traffic signage and monitoring equipment.
Finally, the road accident management programme will see development of policies that effectively deal with accidents and determination of the procedures and method of works. An action-plan for a five-year period will be delivered.

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