Buses carrying company workers parked near the Central Bus Terminus. PICTURES: Sheril Babu

By Ramesh Mathew
Buses and other vehicles coming to the city during the weekends bringing several hundreds of workers from different areas of the country should be “encouraged” rather than forced to avoid entering the main centre of Doha , generally referred to as Souq area, feel city residents.
Instead, these vehicles should be allowed to proceed to such locations as the newly developed Barwa Village on Airport Road, where vast stretches of land are available for parking. Such an initiative from the authorities would contribute considerably to reduce the traffic snarls witnessed in the afternoons in the heart of the city, pointed out some traders.
Already there has been a demand from traders at Barwa Village for the shifting of company vehicles coming to the city to its vast parking stretch. A look at the large parking space at the village would reveal that not even 5% of the entire facility is utilised at the sprawling township, which by and large wears a deserted look throughout the day.
The open space near Dasman Centre on Airport Road remains occupied during weekends
Even while acknowledging that there could be some initial hesitation from the buses carrying workers and even shopkeepers themselves for parking at Village without building basic amenities and infrastructure for visitors, the traders feel the provision of such necessities as affordable standalone cafeterias and erection of traffic signals on Airport Road near Village would make things easy for the company vehicles to consider shifting parking to the place.
One of the main “attractions” of the Souq, according to workers coming by company transport, is the presence of eateries and many other shops that they feel are affordable to them. Authorities could realise this rather easily by auctioning spaces to set up cafeterias and other shops in the vicinity of Barwa Village, where a lot of space is still available.
To facilitate the smooth movement of company vehicles coming to Doha from the country’s northern areas as Al Khor and Ras Laffan and also to ensure their further movement to Barwa Village, their drivers should be instructed to take only Shamal-Doha Expressway and its extension on the D-Ring Road after entering Doha.
The residents feel such company vehicles could enter E-Ring Road on reaching the Mall roundabout and proceed to Barwa Village.
Similarly, company vehicles coming from the western areas such as Shahaniya and Dukhan could also be encouraged to avoid the city through suitable onward connections before reaching the Medical Commission roundabout on their way to Wakrah.
Also, vehicles carrying workers from the Industrial Area could use either of the two connections from Abu Hamour–Doha road near the Woqod roundabout to proceed to Barwa Village, residents point out.
As of now, the company vehicles face scarcity of parking space in the already crowded and congested surroundings near the Alfardan Centre and bus station.
Similarly, company vehicles are also parked in large numbers in the vast compounds lying in the vicinity of Dasman Hypermarket on Airport Road.
The residents also feel that it is high time Mowasalat reduced the operations of public transport buses through the Mushereib areas as the place receives very less visitors compared to what it used to be more than a year ago when it used to be the main business centre of the city.
“Public transport buses could be diverted through other routes and also to Barwa Village, which is being developed into an alternative shopping location,” said a trader of Airport Road.