Fez – Morocco will further expand its extensive road network with three highway projects that will facilitate transportation and shore up the economy.
The first project concerns a 143-km highway linking El Jadida to Safi in western Morocco.
Construction, which started in 2011 and is expected to be completed by December 2016, is still underway with 40 percent of the project done.
The El Jadida-Safi highway has an estimated cost of MAD 500 million, according to a communiqué released by Morocco National Highway Authority (ADM).
The project is an added value to Morocco as it will connect the Doukkalah-Abda region with other neighboring regions, spur the dynamics of economical development facing the city of Safi and help attract more investment projects. The highway will feature six interchanges with closed toll collection systems, such as the highway linking Casablanca to El Jadida.
The second project concerns Rabat’s belt highway which requires a budget of MAD 862 million to finalize it. Morocco’s capital ring road aims to give transit traffic the ability to bypass Temara, Rabat and Salé, saving time and avoiding accidents.
Rabat’s peripheral road project will also connect the highways that converge toward Rabat-Salé from the South (Rabat – Casablanca Highway and its extension towards El Jadida and Marrakesh), from the East (Rabat – Fez highway) and from the North (Tangier – Rabat highway).
Morocco’s National Highway Authority is also on its way to begin an upgrade project for the Casablanca-Berrechid Highway into a three-lane divided road.
The highway upgrade will reportedly encourage activity in agriculture, retail, manufacturing and natural resources processing.
According to the same source, Morocco aims at expanding its highways to 1800 km, which will serve logistics, construction, mining and industry.
