Plans are under way to turn a highly congested road leading to Bahrain International Airport (BIA) into a highway.

The Airport Avenue, which starts from the entrance of Busaiteen and ends at BIA, suffers major tailbacks throughout the day with reports of motorists getting stuck for at least 40 minutes, reported the Gulf Daily News (GDN), our sister publication.

The Works, Municipalities and Urban Planning Affairs Ministry has been given the green light to start work on the project, which will see the road turned into a three-lane dual carriageway.

New exits and entrances will also be built for residents of the area, along with the creation of 60 additional car-parks at Muharraq Oasis Mall.

However, a budget has still not been confirmed pending the approval of the national budget by parliament and the Shura Council.

"The avenue should have been turned into a highway years ago, considering it is the main route people use to get to the airport," area councillor Najem Al Sinan told the GDN yesterday.

"The ministry's road plan, which I have approved, is a futuristic step that takes into consideration the new airport expansion, which will be carried out very soon.

"People's options to reach the airport are limited, considering that the other two routes are from inside Muharraq, which means the avenue gets crowded with thousands of travellers and people visiting the nearby mall."

Budget

Al Sinan urged the ministry to start work as soon as a budget is allocated.

"Matters get complicated when expansion work is delayed and hopefully it gets started before the end of the year as planned because the more things get put on hold the more it becomes difficult to resume it," he added.

The project comes as the $1-billion airport expansion is in the works. – TradeArabia News Service