Kuwait Times

Published Date: August 26, 2007
By Nawara Fattahova, Staff Writer

KUWAIT: The streets of Kuwait witness traffic jams almost all the time and this rings true especially in crowded areas. Salmiya is one of these crowded areas and here, it feels like every hour is rush hour and any closing of a road or reconstruction on a road may paralyze the flow of traffic. Recently, people have noticed that a lot of traffic signal stops are under construction and roads near these areas are being changed from asphalt roads to brick roads.

In Salmiya, particularly in Mugheera Bin Shu'aba Street which is a very crowded street, the asphalt road is being turned into a brick road and two lanes out of three are closed. This has caused major traffic which sometimes reaches all the way from the Fourth Ring Road up to the traffic light crossing leading to the Fifth Ring Road.

This situation is making drivers go insane wherein they get stressed every time they see the traffic lights go green but they don't move. In the end, they have to pass six or seven green lights in order for them to pass the traffic light. This has led numerous people to question why construction is going on when there is absolutely nothing wrong with the road they are repairing.

As the Ministry of the Public Works is responsible for Kuwait's roads and repairs, the Kuwait Times contacted an official from this ministry in order to get some answers. In regards to why asphalt roads were being turned into a brick roads, Hawally Governorate's Public Relations Officer Sabah A. stated that they are copying the roads of Europe. "European roads are all brick roads and we want to imitate that. Moreover, this is the new way of street designing," he added.

Many people speculated that certain people or companies were personally benefiting from these unnecessary projects. "I can't tell if there are people financially benefiting from these projects, but I can tell you that these projects were given to more than one company. Moreover, it is not a business for only one company given that different governorates give the projects to different companies," Sabah further said.

According to Sabah, who refused to announce the budget of these projects, these projects are the first phase of bigger projects. "Making a brick road at the traffic light crossing is an experiment and in case it is successful, these brick roads will be applied to the rest of the roads in Kuwait. Brick roads are much stronger and much more durable than asphalt roads and that is another reason we want to change Kuwaiti asphalt roads into brick roads. Moreover, there are many damaged streets in different area
s of Kuwait and many heavy vehicles are damaging these roads but once we replace these asphalt roads with brick roads, they will be good as new," he explained.

To defend its position, the Ministry of the Public Works claims that these bricks which are being used for Kuwait's roads are top notch. "These are the same bricks used for airport runways. It's made from concrete without using metal and this makes it the best. Even though these bricks are locally made, they are at par with international standards. Brick roads are much more practical than asphalt roads and even cheaper," Sabah pointed out.

Testing the efficiency of these brick roads will show all the benefits of using them. "We have tested our new brick roads and compared them with asphalt roads. We found out that the asphalt roads are slippery when you apply your brakes while the new brick roads are harder, so the vehicle doesn't skid when you apply your brakes," Sabah noted.

According to Sabah, this project is supposed to be over within a year or little more over a year. So drivers, be patient and take care when driving in roads which are under construction. Soon we will all be able to enjoy Kuwait's new brick roads.