Bahrain authorities have announced that a major project to develop the Al Fateh Highway with a view to easing traffic will be launched in April.

According to a report by the Bahrain News Agency which cited minister of Works, Municipality Affairs and Urban Planning, Esam bin Abdullah Khalaf, the works will extend from the Shaikh Hamad Causeway in the north to the Mina Salman intersection in the south. The project will also provide alternative options for the Juffair area.

Al Khalaf said that the main works will include expanding the Al Fateh Highway into four lanes in each direction, with the construction of a three-lane tunnel each way at the intersection of Al Fateh Highway with Awal Road (The Gulf Hotel intersection), and the provision of a ground intersection controlled by traffic lights.

The scope of work includes the construction of an overpass with two lanes for traffic going from the north of Manama on Al Fateh Highway to Prince Saud Al Faisal Road in Juffair. An upper bridge with two lanes of U-turns near the entrance to Al Fateh Corniche for traffic heading north will also be constructed, the report said.