Saudi- 15 footbridges to cut Jeddah road fatalities

(MENAFN- Arab News) There are 10 to 15 weekly incidents of vehicles running over pedestrians, resulting in death or serious injuries, according to a Jeddah Traffic Department report. As a result, the Jeddah Mayoralty will construct 15 pedestrian overbridges crossing busy streets throughout the city at a cost of SR50 million. The department is considering removing signals from the major streets in order to allow a smoother traffic flow. Lt. Col. Zaid Al-Hamzi, spokesman for the department, told Arab News: "These roads do not have passenger bridges, especially Prince Majid Street, Sab'een Street, Al-Andalus Street, Sitteen Street, Macarona Street, as well as many others," he said. "There is heavy traffic around the clock in these streets, especially during rush hours." He added: "If you take Sab'een Street, for example, it looks very much like an intercity highway because there are many bridges and tunnels along the road. We therefore suggested to the mayoralty that they build 15 pedestrian bridges across these streets." Al-Hamzi said this week the department would coordinate with the relevant authorities to identify optimal locations of the proposed bridges. Many pedestrian bridges will be built across the above streets. Sami Nawar, Jeddah Mayoralty spokesman, said the bridges would be completed by the end of 2014.