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Al-Ahram Weekly 7 - 13 October 1999 Issue No. 450 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly 7 - 13 October 1999 Issue No. 450
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Egypt Region International Economy Opinion Culture Interview Features Profile Travel Living Sports People Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Letters A long drive by the Mediterranean
By Amira Ibrahim
President Hosni Mubarak is due to open a section of an international highway, running parallel to the Mediterranean coastline, during celebrations marking the 26th anniversary of the October War. The part in question runs 280 kilometres and connects Port Said in the east with Alexandria in the west.
According to Minister of Housing and Utilities Mohamed Ibrahim Suleiman, the 1,050 kilometre-long highway cost LE2.5 billion and links Rafah along the Egyptian-Israeli border with Salloum on the Libyan border. It passes through eight governorates: Sinai, Port Said, Damietta, Daqahliya, Kafr Al-Sheikh, Beheira, Alexandria and Marsa Matrouh.
Ahmed Abu-Alfa, head of the Northern Coast Development Authority, told Al-Ahram Weekly that construction, which lasted 10 years, was divided into three stages. The eastern sector, 220 kilometres long, was completed three years ago at a cost of LE300 million. It is already in service, connecting Rafah with Port Said, Abu-Alfa said.
The western sector, connecting Alexandria with Salloum, is 550 kilometres long. With construction amounting to LE700 million, the section has been operating since 1995, Abu-Alfa added. Part of the construction work included the expansion and upgrading of an old road.
The central sector, between Port Said and Alexandria, was the most difficult to build because it includes several bridges and flyovers. Its construction cost was a staggering LE1.5 billion, Abu-Alfa said. This section includes a nine-kilometre circular road around Alexandria, connecting the two desert and countryside Cairo-Alexandria highways.
