Al Khor Road

Al Khor Road is a 33 Kilometer multimodal transportation and infrastructure project¹ that serves as a key access point connecting between Doha to east north Qatar². The project includes three mobility mode lanes: Vehicle highway lanes, a rail lane, and cycling and pedestrian lanes. The project contributes to achieving the goals outlined in Qatar National Vision 2030^{3 i}, and has three main objectives:

• Create a new urban areas and developments along the east coast of Qatar from Doha Gulf Club area to Al Khor and Ras Laffan, which in turn aims to encourage the population of the Doha Capital to move outside the historic city.
• Attract investments along the Al Khor road in business, real estate, and agricultural as a result of the provided infrastructure including telecommunications, water drainage, sewage, and among others.
• Implement a connected and safe network of cycling paths, raising public awareness about healthy mobility and motivate the community to practice sports⁴.

To implement the project’s objectives, a master plan was proposed extending along 33 kilometers and consisting of the following:

• Vehicular Highway: Opened in 2020 with ten interchanges. It is designed to increase vehicle capacity from 8,000 to 20,000 vehicles per hour in both directions⁵. Each direction has five lanes plus two emergency lanes. It is connected to the parallel roads including Al Khor-Semaisma Road, Al Majd Road, and Al Tarfa Road, which provides road users with commute options between the northern, eastern, western and southern regions⁶.
• Two Soft Mobility Lanes:
• The Olympic cycling track, opened in 2020⁷, spans 33 kilometer in length and 7 meters in width on the Al Khor highway’s western side⁸. It provides 29 tunnels and 5 bridges to enable an uninterrupted ride, completely separated from vehicle traffic.
• The shared pedestrian cycling path opened in 2021^{9 10}, stretching 38 Kilometers along the eastern side of Al Khor Road¹¹ while integrating with the Olympic cycling track. It is a 6 m wide with 18 underpasses, providing safe cycling and jogging opportunities for hobbyist¹².

Both tracks and paths are equipped with urban furniture like bicycle stands, benches, rest facilities, and lighting poles for night accessibility.

• Central Median: Houses the rail lane in 2020 and connects Al Khor and Doha areas via two major stations¹³, the Lusail rail station and Al Khor rail station. The rail is expected to encourage Doha residents to relocate outside the historic city center¹⁴.

The project, through its highway and soft mobility tracks, serves more than 20 residential neighborhoods such as Semaisma, Umm Qarn, Lusail, and The Pearl, among others. It also connects several vital sports facilities such as Lusail Stadium, Al Bayt Stadium, and Doha Golf Club. It is worth noting that Ashghalⁱⁱ in Qatar, through this project, has broken two Guinness¹⁵ World Records in September 2020¹⁶, as the longest continuous stretch of paved asphalt on Al Khor Road reaches 25.275 kilometers, and the longest connected cycling path extends 32.869 kilometers long with a width of 7 meters ¹⁷.

The project is owned and funded by the Public Works Authority ‘Ashghal,’ which is responsible for asset management of all infrastructure projects and public buildings in Qatar¹⁸. It was implemented by Tekfen Construction with a total project cost as per 2020 of more than $ 2billion¹⁹. In addition to this, Ashghal has appointed KEO International Consultants till 2024 to be the General Engineering Consultant (GEC) on the Local Roads and Drainage Program (LR&DP)²⁰. The program aims to enhance the existing infrastructure in Qatar and provide new facilities to underserved areas²¹.