Roads to and from Bahrain International Airport need to be revamped urgently as the area is once again experiencing heavy traffic flow, according to councillors.
They say Airport Highway is congested throughout the day as it is the main link to all inner roads in Muharraq.
The councillors have suggested that a proposal for an underpass linking a key bridge to the airport, presented in 2018, be reconsidered after being earlier rejected.
It follows another idea for a flyover on the same highway which was also turned down as plans for the new metro were not finalised.
The Works Ministry earlier announced a four-phase upgrade to all roads leading to the airport, with two phases already being completed.
In the first phase, Road 2403 running parallel to the airport was converted into a one-way road from the airport roundabout to Arad Highway.
The second phase has seen the airport’s roundabout replaced with traffic lights, rerouting and expanding Khalifa Al Kabeer Avenue and Arad Highway.
However, the third phase – that would have seen flyovers built in the Falcon Monument Junction area and another on Avenue 46 – is still on hold.
Fourth phase would involve linking the Muharraq Ring Road and the Airport Highway by developing Avenue 20 going through the airport’s area and Busaiteen.
The $1.1 billion new terminal, opened last year, is four times larger than the former facility with the new airport having a capacity to handle 14 million passengers a year.
“We understand that whatever is faster should be pushed through and in this case the new airport was the most important infrastructure project and the emphasis on opening it on time was right,” said Muharraq Municipal Council financial, administrative and legislative committee chairman and area councillor Bassem Al Majdami.
“The closest routes to the airport were revamped in parallel with the main development; it was rushed through, but again it helped absorb some of the traffic,” he added.
“People coming from the Airport Highway are still complaining that they have to drive all the way to Arad Bay and then U-turn to reach the airport, which is one of the insanely irritating routes in Muharraq, if not the country.
“Again, the two phases that were done are not enough and they have not helped cover anything, as they dealt with existing traffic, but the return back to life made things worse as the place has returned to crowding with an influx in travel movement.”
Mr Al Majdami added that phases three and four were long overdue, urging new Works Minister Ibrahim Al Hawaj to review fresh ideas and present them to the council.
“New flyovers and roads should have been done when the government thought of the new airport, but that’s a bygone issue, and now is the time to re-evaluate things,” said Mr Al Majdami.
“Technology today has made it easier to engineer, operate and build projects within a limited space and the area we are speaking about is Bahrain’s first point of contact.
“If the place is now a hectic scene, two weeks from now, when all students are back to school, it would be in further chaos with more vehicles using the roads network at the same time in the already highly-populated area.”
mohammed@gdnmedia.bh
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