The unannounced closure of the Toyota signal along Doha’s C-Ring Road leading towards the Corniche Street forced many motorists to take detours yesterday. PICTURE: Shaji Kayamkulam
An unannounced closure of the Toyota signal along Doha’s C-Ring Road leading towards the Corniche Street caught motorists unaware and caused traffic congestion yesterday. It is learnt that the closure will be removed this morning.
The closure of a portion of the C-Ring Road leading to the Corniche was part of the fourth phase of road works, which includes the addition of an extra lane on either side, led by the Public Works Authority (Ashghal).
Vehicles heading towards the Corniche Street via the C-Ring and Airport Road were diverted to the Grand Hamad Street. The diversion created a bottleneck to the frustration of many motorists.
A taxi driver complained that his company had not received any traffic advisory or announcements about the closure from the authorities concerned. He said that unannounced road closures and traffic diversions were “confusing” to motorists.
“Many of my colleagues plying on this route were caught unaware,” he said.
Another driver coming from the Abu Hamour area said that he decided to take an alternate route going towards the Airport Road when he noticed traffic buildup at the Woqod roundabout along the Najma Street.
He added that upon reaching the Airport Road, motorists were not allowed to make a left going towards the C-Ring Road. Along with some drivers, he opted to take a detour inside the now defunct Doha International Airport premises and exit at C-Ring Road, which many motorists discovered later was also closed.
“But what should be just a 4-km drive going to my house near the ‘Crazy Signal’ became a more than 20-km drive in the morning because I had to drive all the way to the Barwa Village signal and take the road in front of the Hamad International Airport to reach the Corniche just to avoid the traffic congestion and get home,” he said.
Another driver who was headed towards the Hilal area from the Corniche around 9pm yesterday said traffic was diverted and lamented: “What could have been just a 10-minute drive going to my office took more than half an hour.”
Earlier, some motorists complained that the newly-paved portion of C-Ring Road was a potential safety hazard for vehicles going towards the Najma Street. Drivers complained that there were only a few floodlights in the area at night.
“It’s difficult driving along newly-paved roads at night, that’s why sufficient lighting is needed to keep vehicles in their proper lanes. Because without the traffic lines, a driver could swerve onto another lane,” the driver said.
Last August, Ashghal began the fourth phase of road works along the C-Ring Road for the conversion of roundabouts to signal-controlled intersections. The project affects areas from the new Salata junction until the Kinana junction and from the Centre Roundabout until just before the Al Asiri interchange.
A signalised pedestrian crossing will be created for all four crossings at each of the new intersections. With the addition of a fourth lane, the C-Ring Road’s capacity is expected to increase by around 25%.
According to Ashghal’s Infrastructure Affairs, the project implementation will require the temporary closure of some service roads and providing alternative ones. It said that pedestrian access to businesses and residential buildings in the area would be provided until the completion of the project.