By Conrad Prabhu - MUSCAT — A contract is due to be shortly awarded for the construction of a major interchange project in Salalah, designed to streamline traffic flows at one of the busiest junctions in this fast-developing tourism and maritime hub. The project is a key part of a much larger traffic management scheme targeting one of Salalah's most important carriageways, Al Rabat Street, which traverses the length of the city from Raysut in the west to Um al Ghawarif roundabout in the east, past the Salalah International Airport.
The interchange project will not only ensure the smooth flow of traffic in and out of the port, free zone and industrial area of Salalah, but also address one of the city's most vexing traffic chokepoints at Iteen, where thousands of visitors and tourists pass every day during the annual Salalah Tourism Festival.
The Supreme Committee for Town Planning, which oversees all strategic infrastructure and economic initiatives on behalf of the Omani government, is supervising the implementation of the Al Rabat-Iteen Road interchange project.
Billed as the biggest interchange initiative of kind ever to have been undertaken in the Sultanate, the project also involves the construction of partial cloverleaf loops, exit ramps, service roads, an underpass, and the triple laning of a major stretch of Al Rabat Street.
Well-known international consultant, Consulting Engineering Services (CES), is the design and engineering consultant for the prestigious project. A number of leading Omani and international contractors are in the race for the contract, estimated to cost several tens of millions of Omani rials.
According to officials, there are several components to the interchange project. The centrepiece is a grade separated interchange that will be constructed at the intersection of Al Rabat Street and Iteen Road/Al Namah Road (also known as the Hamdan Complex junction). This intersection will be upgraded into a partial cloverleaf interchange, complete with a flyover across Al Rabat Street. The half cloverleaf design, along with exit ramps and service roads, will allow for smooth traffic flows not only between Salalah Port and the city, but also ease vehicular flows in the north-south direction along Al Namah Road and Iteen Road.
Also as part of the interchange project, Al Rabat Street is proposed to be upgraded into a three-lane carriageway. The third laning of this key road will start from near the intersection all the way to Um al Ghawarif roundabout, covering a distance of about 10 km.
Roundabouts along the stretch will be widened as well, while a pedestrian underpass will be constructed across Al Rabat Street in front of Haffa House.
Further, Al Namah Road, which extends north from the intersection into Salalah City, will be upgraded into a four-lane divided carriageway. Iteen Road, which runs south of the intersection through the sprawling Iteen Plain and into the verdant jabals beyond, will also be widened. A vehicular underpass will be built across the Iteen Road to allow for traffic to feed into and out of the Municipal Recreation Centre, which is the main venue for the khareef festivities of the Salalah Tourism Festival.
CES has been involved in the design and construction supervision of a number of road projects in Dhofar Governorate, including the dualisation of the key 23rd July Street, which is currently under way. The international engineering consultancy, which this year completes 40 years of successful operations in the Sultanate, also has designed numerous road, bridge and sea-link projects elsewhere around the world.
Importantly, the interchange project, which is the first in Dhofar Governorate, is the latest investment in its burgeoning infrastructure designed to keep pace with the region's growing tourism, economic and maritime importance.
Earlier this month, Dhofar Municipality unveiled plans for a major revamp of Salalah's road network, envisaging investments in a ring road, flyovers, bridges and dualised carriageways.
Salalah International Airport is also the subject of a major upgrade designed to increase its capacity to half a million passengers per year. The Port of Salalah, which hosts a major transshipment hub, plans to expand the capacity of its general cargo terminal while also adding a new liquid jetty. The free zone at Salalah has also been attracting sizeable industrial investments. In Taqah, work is also under way on a $1 billion independent water and power project that will augment electricity and water supply to Salalah and its environs.
Substantial investments have also been pouring into the tourism sector with major integrated tourism schemes and resorts under various stages of development at key locations around the governorate.