High mast lighting and barriers have been built along the stretch of the newly opened Al Huwailah link road to Ras Laffan city. PICTURE: Jayan Orma

By Joey Aguilar/Staff Reporter

A newly developed 16-km link road to Ras Laffan city has been opened to traffic, the Public Works Authority (Ashgal) announced during a field visit for the media yesterday.
Ahmed el-Warraky, project manager at Ashgal, said the Al Huwailah Road, which was a single carriageway in each direction, now has four lanes on each side separated by a median. The road is expected to improve traffic flow to Ras Laffan.
It will also serve as an alternative to Ras Laffan Road that links Ras Laffan and Al Khor Street, which was causing congestion on the expressway from Doha to Ras Laffan Industrial City.
El-Warraky said safety standards have been enhanced by putting high mast lighting and barriers along the entire stretch.
“The number of lanes is optimised depending on the location,” he explained. The Ashgal official said a special kind of asphalt has been used to make the road more durable, especially for heavy vehicles. It also has service networks such as a stormwater drainage network, a potable water network, telecommunication network and intelligent transport systems.
“Before, it was totally a conventional road with no signals, no lighting and no barriers,” he said. “Because it is a very old area, some existing pipelines had to be removed while those in good condition have been retained.”
Speed limit is set at 80kmh for all vehicles since Al Huwailah is not considered a highway, according to el-Warraky.
Red light cameras had been installed at all intersections while speed cameras will be put up soon to monitor traffic violations and to improve safety.
The road is linked to the North Road at Al Huwailah intersection (No. 66). Four new intersections have been built which are the College, Al Shagub, Khalifa, and Al Jassasiya streets – all have signals, red light cameras and U-turns.
El-Warraky said the road forms part of future expansion plans for the Ras Laffan Industrial City and its environs. Travel time to Ras Laffan will be the same either through the North Road or Al Huwailah.
While some complementary works are still being done such as cycling lanes, these would not affect the traffic flow, he said.
The Al Huwailah Link Road is one of Ashgal’s Expressway projects, which include more than 32 projects for building 1,000 km of upgraded multi-track roads and 240 main intersections.