The construction of an underground passageway in Morocco has recently begun. The underground passageway starts near the intersection of the Mohammed V and Hassan II avenues towards the Ait Baha shopping center, leading to Avenue d’Egypt.
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This tunnel is mainly meant to decongest traffic around Rabat’s iconic Bab el Had Square which is one of the main entrances to the medina of Rabat also known as the old city, leading to a major open-air market, and as a result, the area is prone to heavy vehicle and pedestrian traffic.
Along with the underground passageway, there also will be the construction of an upper roundabout and one-way lateral tracks plus an underground car park area underneath the Bab el Had square, with the capacity to accommodate at least 500 vehicles.
Led by Société Rabat Région Aménagements, the entire project is a part of the Rabat City Light program and it is estimated to cost over US$ 4.12M.
The Rabat City Light program
This is an initiative that aims to reduce congestion, improve road safety, and positively impact the environment. The first phase of this initiative included the redevelopment of the bypass linking the Casablanca-Rabat highway, construction of an urban bypass linking Rabat and Sale, installation of Zaer-Agdal high voltage lines beneath the Abderrahim Bouabid, Ibn Rochd, and Maa El Aynine avenues, and lastly the development of the Abderrahim Bouabid avenue.
The Rabat City Light program is under King Mohammed VI’s Rabat development program, which was launched back in 2015 and that revolves around promoting the city’s heritage while preserving green spaces and the environment, improving access to local services and facilities, consolidating governance, upgrading the urban fabric, modernizing transport equipment, revitalizing economic activities, and strengthening road infrastructure.
Since its introduction, King Mohammed VI’s program has grown to encompass cultural and educational development.
