Saudi Arabia planning major highway projects

Saudi Arabia is planning to build a series of major highway projects.

By MJ Woof April 6, 2021 Read time: 1 min

Saudi Arabia is aiming to start a series of major road projects in due course – image courtesy of © Marcos Souza, Dreamstime.com

A series of road projects is being planned by Saudi Arabia's Ministry of Transport. Infrastructure development will be a major focus for the country in coming years, with plans being drawn up for around 1,000 projects in all. A massive budget of US$160 billion has been set by the ministry to help transform the country and improve its transport infrastructure.

The projects have been discussed at the recent Future Projects Forum, organised by the Saudi Contractors Authority in collaboration with SABIC and Saudi Aramco.

Road building will figure highly in the plans to improve transport infrastructure. Key road projects include the new Dhahran-Al Batha road that will be built to connect the Jubail Highway and Dammam highway. They also include the Al-Shimassi-Al Qor highway in Makkah and a new 400km dual carriageway to connect Hail and Al-Ula.

Finance & Funding

Expectations for growth of UAE infrastucture

The INTERMAT Middle East event is being launched at a pivotal time of major infrastructure development in the region. As with most sectors, the highways industry has not had a fantastic 18 months in the Gulf. Not only has the recession impacted the delivery of projects across the board, GCC Governments' attention have been switching increasingly to rail, as plans to roll out a Gulf-wide rail system gather steam. GCC countries will invest over US$119.6 billion in infrastructure projects over the next decade