# [ET] Egypt | road infrastructure • الطرق السريعة و المزدوجة في مصر



## eskandarany (Oct 15, 2008)

beautiful photos! Hopefully next time i go ill take more photos of the whole network


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## eskandarany (Oct 15, 2008)

Cairo-Ain Soukhna Motorway


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## ForteTwo (Feb 27, 2010)

eskandarany said:


> Cairo-Fayoum (notice the u-turn signs in the background which are common)


Is the sign in the foreground a route marker, or what is the 65 for?


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## bozata90 (Dec 8, 2008)

^^ kilometre sign. You see them often in Egypt.


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## egypt69 (Feb 21, 2008)

> *الإنتهاء من المرحلة الأولى لطريق الإسكندرية الصحراوي أول يونيو بتكلفة 1.7 مليار جنيه *
> 
> 
> 
> ...


A Translation (A really bad one, google translate sucks) :



> Announced that the Roads and Bridges and Land Transport in the first completed next June, the first phase of the road (Cairo / Alexandria) Desert, which is being transformed into a «Freeway», in the way of the Ad Hoc coming from Alexandria, at the time it was decided that the completion of the second phase of the coming Cairo in the first quarter of 2011, to complete the longest «Freeway» Egypt length of 187 kilometers, and an estimated cost of 1.7 billion pounds.
> 
> Al «Egyptian today» The Ministry of Transport will be the inauguration ceremony for the opening of the first phase, which has a length of 187 kilometers, attended by a number of ministers, led by Dr «Ahmed Nazif» Prime Minister.
> 
> ...


So the first phase of the project I mentioned in the previous page should be completed this June!


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## egypt69 (Feb 21, 2008)

Some construction pics courtesy of SSC Egypt Forumer Red Ahlawy:



red ahlawy said:


> Sorry guys I'm late with posting the pics cause my internet connection was down for some reasonhno:hno:
> Anyways, here are the pics:


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## Morsue (Mar 28, 2008)

Now that the transmaghrébine motorway seems to become a reality, with Libya extending their part of the motorway all the way along the coast, are there any plans to upgrade the coastal road to Libya from a four lane expressway to a full freeway/motorway?


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## eskandarany (Oct 15, 2008)

Morsue said:


> Now that the transmaghrébine motorway seems to become a reality, with Libya extending their part of the motorway all the way along the coast, are there any plans to upgrade the coastal road to Libya from a four lane expressway to a full freeway/motorway?


it has been an expressway for a long time, and there are plenty of similar roads in egypt. i don't think it would be converted to a motorway any time soon though


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## eskandarany (Oct 15, 2008)

Port Said - Alexandria


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## ForteTwo (Feb 27, 2010)

eskandarany said:


> Port Said - Alexandria


Is the "21" shield the standard road number shield used in Egypt? I thought that road was numbered "01," unless the "Alex. Agr. Rd." shown is different than the one which goes to Cairo.


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## eskandarany (Oct 15, 2008)

road numbering is rare so largely for decorative purposes. ppl generally have no idea what 'official number' a road has,
If 21 is not the cai-alx agri expressway then its prob the expressway leading there (dumyat-tanta)


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## eskandarany (Oct 15, 2008)

note also that there are sometimes 2 roads bwn the same termini - (alex-cairo) and (ismailia-cairo) etc. have both 'agricultural' and 'desert' roads. I think 01 is cai-alx desert road, not agri


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## eskandarany (Oct 15, 2008)

Plenty of new photos at the Egyptian Forum: Construction Update on Cairo-Alexandria Desert Road


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## xrtn2 (Jan 12, 2011)

any news


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## GROBIN (Feb 27, 2011)

Cairo - Ain Sokhna *motorway* ?? You mean: it is 2x2 with separate carriageways & no crossings now ? 

If so, it has really changed since last time I've been there ! :lol: At the time, from El Maadi to Ain Sokhna, you had to drive mostly through a single carriageway, with few cars. It's on that road I started learning to drive :lol: I was 13 at the time ...


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## Rusonaldo (Dec 21, 2007)




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## eskandarany (Oct 15, 2008)

This is an updated version of my mad (unfinished) project to create a half-decent roadmap for Egypt. The scheme is approximate and subjective but hopefully useful:
Light Blue : Dual-carriageway, fast
Dark Blue : Dual-carriageway, too busy or dangerous to drive fast
White: Dual-carriageway, under construction
Green: Single-carriageway, rural
Orange: Single-carriageway, desert








And this is a sideways-map of the Nile valley down to Nubia & Sudan








I hope I find some better illustrations of the roads than what we've got so far  There's plenty out there


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## ChrisZwolle (May 7, 2006)

There appears to be a new alignment under construction at the Cairo - Tanta Road, near the city of Benha. Maybe this'll replace the outdated six-lane highway between both cities. It wouldn't surprise me if this is one of the oldest dual carriageways in Egypt.


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## ChrisZwolle (May 7, 2006)

Most "motorways" in Egypt are in fact Dual Carriageways. Most of them do not have significant grade-separating, although they also do not have roundabouts and traffic lights. Some of them run through urban areas with houses and buildings right next to the road. Some of the more important roads have T-intersections with U-turns in the median (a common practice in the former Soviet Union). 

However, a few roads stand out with higher design standards. These are generally motorways constructed in the last 10 years.

These are;

* Cairo Ring Road (fully grade-separated, substandard in some spots)
* Cairo - Red Sea Road (to Ain Sukhnah, six-lane motorway with full grade-separation)
* Tanta Bypass (six lane toll road with full grade-separation)
* Sadat City - El Alamein Road (four-lane road with no real intersecting roads, which makes it a motorway due to the lack of crossing roads rather than by design). 

The Cairo - Alexandria Desert Road has six to eight lanes, but appears to be rather substandard, with only two or three real interchanges, the others are the aforemention T-intersections with U-turns.

The Cairo - Suez road is a four-lane highway and has very few paved crossing roads, and could be considered a motorway-like road. 

Cairo - Ismailia - Port Said Road is too substandard, but it is entirely a dual carriageway. Virtually no grade-separation here. 

Cairo - Tanta + Tanta - Alexandria Roads through the Nile River Delta. These may be the oldest dual carriageways in Egypt due to their importance for the agricultural sector. The Tanta Bypass is a full motorway but otherwise it's too substandard to be considered a motorway. However, some sections appear to be more modern, it's mostly six lanes between Cairo and Tanta.

The Tanta - Damietta Road is a four-lane dual carriageway, but that's where all comparisons to a motorway end. It has virtually no grade-separations and crosses many roads and even railroads at-grade. 

I haven't checked the roads south of Cairo along the Nile River, but I think they are dual carriageways at best.


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## eskandarany (Oct 15, 2008)

It is often misleading to look at satellite images of African countries; 5 years makes a big difference, and they are rarely updated.

There is a motorway along the east bank south to Assiut which is being lengthened further south (check the thread in the Egyptian forum). There's a dual carriageway in the valley (some parts under construction) and an existing dual carriageway in the desert on the west bank (being lengthened too I think). Priority in Upper Egypt is given to new desert routes I believe (a couple of which were quite insane to construct). There are U/C roads towards Sudan along the east bank and along the red sea.

Cairo-Alex Desert Road is nearly completed to international standards (4×4 + service roads along the full length), and the road through Wadi El-Natroun + Alex-Matrouh are scheduled next.

Too many new dual carriageways in the delta over the past 10 years to list off the top of my head, several U/C now (especially the 'Cairo regional ring' and roads near the north of the delta), including overdue bypasses along major arteries (which is what you have found I believe).

Cairo-Ismailia there are two routes; the desert road I travelled and is good in terms of markings, cats eyes, very few T-junctions (maybe none at all), etc. - the agricultural route is, by nature, slower and more dangerous. I think the govt designs agricultural roads to different standards (which is bad but it seems to be the case).

As for Suez-Ismailia-Port Said, it is extremely busy. It's almost an urban dual carriageway; towns, villages and factories all along it. It doesn't pass 'through' any villages but it has a couple of silly turnings·

Cairo has several good urban expressways, fully grade separated.

Most major cities seem to be getting good bypasses or ring roads, or - if they are along the Nile - bridges and access roads with grade separation.

I don't think there are any immediate plans for Matrouh-Salloum and PortFouad-Gaza - the dual carriageways there don't seem to be on the list for upgrading (at least not announced publicly). A bridge from Sharm El Sheikh to Saudi Arabia has been approved, and - if built - I imagine Ismailia-Sharm will get a major overhaul.


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## BenjaminEli (May 17, 2013)

Cairo Ring Road​


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## BenjaminEli (May 17, 2013)

El Geish Road (Alexandria)


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## ChrisZwolle (May 7, 2006)

There is a regional ring road under construction around Cairo. It is planned to be around 400 kilometers long, and is equipped with eight lanes throughout.

I did a Google Earth measurement, 208 km is now open to traffic along the southern and eastern side of Cairo.


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## ChrisZwolle (May 7, 2006)

*route numbers*

All main route numbers in Egypt. As reported in this thread before, road numbers are almost never signed in the field and generally unknown to the population. The numbering was introduced in the 1990s.

* 1 Cairo - Alexandria 203km
* 2 Cairo - Aswan 907km (Nile Valley Road)
* 3 Cairo - Suez - Elat (IL) 385km
* 4 Cairo - Port Said 181km
* 5 Tanta - Port Said 168km
* 6 Ring Cairo
* 10 Cairo - El Kharga 1056km
* 11 Cairo - Alexandria 239km
* 12 Qalyub - Kafr Boleen - 1
* 13 Cairo - Tanta 74km
* 14 Shibin el Kôm (13) - Zifta (49) 
* 15 El Bâgur (13) - El Brigat (12) 
* 16 El Khatatba (12) - 11 (Sadat City)
* 17 Kafr Boleen (13) - Damanhour (01)
* 18 Damanhour (01) - Abu-el-Matâmir - 11
* 19 Matrouh (01) - Siwa - Libië 
* 20 Gizeh - Assiut 345km (Nile Westbank road)
* 21 Cairo - El Qasr 571km (Nile Eastbank road)
* 22 Gizeh - Beni Suef 108km
* 23 Maadi (21) - Ain Sukhna (24) 
* 24 Ismailiya - Halaib 1117km
* 25 Assiut - Baris 322km
* 26 El Burumbul - Zafarana 168km
* 27 Beni Mazar - Ras Garib 253km
* 28 Qena - Bur Safaja 161km
* 29 Qus - El Quseir 183km
* 30 El Kantara - Rafah (IL) 199km
* 31 Ismailiya - Nizzana (IL) 226km
* 32 Baloza (30) - Râs Sudr (34) 
* 33 El Arish - Abu Suweira 235km
* 34 El Kantara - Sharm el Sheikh 474km
* 35 Elat (IL) - Sharm el Sheikh 233km
* 36 Wadi Feran (34) - Nuweiba (35) 
* 37 03 Ras el Nuqb - Nuweiba (35) 
* 38 ? 
* 39 Bir el Abd (30) - 33 
* 40 Benha - Zagazig 34km
* 41 Cairo - Abu Hammad 63km
* 42 Zagazig - Ismailiya 83km
* 43 Benha - El Mansura 78km
* 44 El Mansura (43) - El Matariya 
* 45 Zagazig - El Mansura 51km
* 46 Shirbine (43) - Kafr Saqr (47) 
* 47 El Simbalawein - Abu Kebir 28km
* 48 Faqus (42) - El Gamaliya (44) 
* 49 Tanta - Ismailiya 146km
* 50 Damanhur - Shirbin 122km
* 51 Talkha (05) - Bilqas (50) 
* 52 El Mahala el Kubra (52) - Kafr el Sheikh (50)
* 53 Bilqas (50) - Baltim 
* 54 Tanta - Khafr el Sheik 47km
* 55 Sallum - Alexandria 507km
* 56 ?
* 57 Damanhour - Rashid (58) 
* 58 Rosetta - Alexandria 56km
* 59 Idfina (57) - Kafr el Dawâur (01)


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## ChrisZwolle (May 7, 2006)

Google Earth shows a new eight-lane motorway under construction / partially completed west of Cairo. It runs from Cairo, just north of 6th of October City into the desert, where recent imagery ends. It has an interchange with the new regional ring road.

I drew a map of it, based on available satellite imagery. It is 80 kilometers long (in blue).


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## ChrisZwolle (May 7, 2006)

^^ some imagery:


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## ChrisZwolle (May 7, 2006)

I found another new motorway under construction in Egypt. This one connects the Nile River Valley with the Red Sea near Zaafarana. Only the eastern part is visible on satellite imagery.

drawn on a map:









Satellite imagery (east to west).


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## ChrisZwolle (May 7, 2006)

The new motorway that runs west from Cairo (see post #65) is being constructed quite fast.

Look what they did in only 5-6 weeks.


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## ChrisZwolle (May 7, 2006)

There is yet another motorway under construction in Egypt, a 39 kilometer route from the Cairo Ring Road to the also under construction Regional Ring Road near Banha. This motorway is in the earthworks stage. Construction started mid-2015 according to historic imagery in Google Earth.

Drawn on a map:









Some satellite imagery (Cairo to Banha).

1. The southern terminus at the Cairo Ring Road.









2. In the northern suburbs of Cairo.









3. A toll plaza north of Cairo.









4. The northern terminus near Banha at the under construction Regional Ring Road (east-west).


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## ChrisZwolle (May 7, 2006)

I found another dual carriageway under construction in the Nile River Delta. This doesn't appear to be a full-standard freeway/motorway as there are no interchanges visible. It runs from Shibin El Kom to Tamalay. Traffic is already using it despite a large number of active construction sites. It's a greenfield route (not an expansion of an existing road).

It's not a part of the Regional Ring Road, which runs further south.


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## ChrisZwolle (May 7, 2006)

There is also a dual carriageway under construction between Aïn Sokhna and Zafarana. It appears to be a replacement for the coastal road (highway 24) which cannot easily be widened as it is wedged between resorts and cliffs.

It connects to the new toll road that runs parallel to highway 26 from the Nile Valley to Zafarana, which I reported on a couple of posts before.

So you can say, Egypt is in a massive highway construction boom. They are constructing new motorways and dual carriageways all over the place.


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## ChrisZwolle (May 7, 2006)

*motorway to Port Said*

Google Earth reveals yet another motorway under construction in Egypt. It is a 90 kilometer motorway that runs from near Ismailia to Port Said.

It starts at the Cairo - Ismailia Desert Road (which has recently been upgraded to eight lanes) and ends at the Port Said Bypass. Works seem to have begun recently.


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## ChrisZwolle (May 7, 2006)

*El Alamein Road*

A large interchange has been constructed between the Cairo - Alexandria Desert Road and the dual carriageway to El Alamein. 

Previously, traffic coming from Cairo to El Alamein had to make a U-turn. There are now direct connectors with large flyovers.









The road to El Alamein is also being widened from 2x2 to 2x3 lanes.


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## ChrisZwolle (May 7, 2006)

A new Nile River crossing is being constructed in Cairo. It runs across an island. I don't know the name of the island, it's north of Gezira Island.










It includes some large-scale demolition.


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## RV (Oct 23, 2007)

6th of October viaduct is quite impressive. How did it's building impact on the city?


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## ChrisZwolle (May 7, 2006)

Works has now really begun on two bridges spanning the Nile in northern Cairo. It's part of a new east-west motorway (see two posts earlier)

West branch bridge:









East branch bridge:









Interchange with the Cairo Ring Road west of the city. Look at the huge abutment on the east side, it is approximately 110 meters long. Construction is also seen on a ramp that goes between buildings.


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## ChrisZwolle (May 7, 2006)

They opened a circa 300 kilometer segment of motorway last year, on 30 June 2016. It's the new Cairo - Marsa Matruh motorway.

It appears that it opened from 6th of October City west to El Dabaa. It is under construction into Cairo, including two new bridges across the Nile. The segment west of El Dabaa is not yet under construction apparently.

The new motorway has eight lanes in the desert around 6th of October City and six lanes west of the Regional Ring Road.

The entire route of the Cairo - Marsa Matruh Motorway:


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## Azmat (Nov 17, 2010)

ChrisZwolle, you've done a great job keeping this thread updated. You are correct that Egypt is undergoing a massive highway construction boom. These projects you speak of are part of the National Road Project, this video has some great footage of the completed sections of the project (as of Feb 2016):


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## Azmat (Nov 17, 2010)

Aswan-Abu Simbel Rd. 









By Abdelhalim Muhammad: http://www.panoramio.com/user/1959990?with_photo_id=85706170









































By Photo Guide: http://www.panoramio.com/user/5686237?with_photo_id=51708480








¨
By hal1962: http://www.panoramio.com/user/1718184?with_photo_id=44039836​


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## Azmat (Nov 17, 2010)

Marsa Alam-Edfu Rd.

















By Said Bustany: http://www.panoramio.com/user/1171177?with_photo_id=63109681

































By Photo Guide: http://www.panoramio.com/user/5686237?with_photo_id=51671579

























By Zbigniew Borus: http://www.panoramio.com/user/607021?with_photo_id=45252946​


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## ChrisZwolle (May 7, 2006)

Yes it seems so. A few are older style dual carriageways. In addition to these, there are also a number of dual carriageways with roundabouts, in particular on the east side of Cairo (not included in the map).


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## Arnorian (Jul 6, 2010)

How far south is there/will there be a motorway on both sides of the Nile? Google Maps doesn't seem to be up to date.


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## eskandarany (Oct 15, 2008)

ChrisZwolle said:


> Yes it seems so. A few are older style dual carriageways. In addition to these, there are also a number of dual carriageways with roundabouts, in particular on the east side of Cairo (not included in the map).


All the 'freeways' do indeed seem grade separated but:

Many onramps / offramps, signage, etc. seems not to comply with international safety standards.
There's pretty rampant corruption when it comes to construction practices, quality of materials, etc. There was a major scandal with one of their contractors last year who exposed what's going on. So although it's nice of them to clear the rights of way, some of these roads washed away with the first floods during a heavy rain (yes, that does happen in some deserts) and I wish they didn't build them so shoddily as to require rebuilding within a mere few years. That's why Egypt's existing road network is so atrocious in the first place.
If you think foundations and surfacing is expensive, think of maintaining bridges whose concrete was poured by shoddy contractors... yikes.
As they say, dictatorships build fast, but anyone who argues they build well need only look at that overpass blocking sunlight.

Nonetheless, nice to see Egypt doing _something_ with its infrastructure finally, even if it is short-termist


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## ChrisZwolle (May 7, 2006)

Egypt builds motorways across pyramids plateau, alarming conservationists


Critics say the two highways may cause irrevocable damage to one of the world's most important heritage sites




www.middleeasteye.net


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## ChrisZwolle (May 7, 2006)

There is also a 156 kilometer long Middle Ring Road around Cairo. It is also the widest highway in Egypt (and according to president Sisi, the widest in the Middle East). It is mostly 12-14 lanes wide.


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## ChrisZwolle (May 7, 2006)

The three ring roads of Cairo:


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## eskandarany (Oct 15, 2008)

Still no signage, still rubbish junctions, these roads are only so wide so protestors can be killed more easily on the ten year anniversary (25 Jan 2020).


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## D K (May 8, 2009)

Impressive!!! A 367km ring road wow...


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## ChrisZwolle (May 7, 2006)

This is what we call _booming:








_

The gif measures about 20 kilometers left to right. It's on the southeastern flank of Cairo.


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## VITORIA MAN (Jan 31, 2013)

Cairo Traffic by Aidan McRae Thomson, en Flickr


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## ChrisZwolle (May 7, 2006)

I was browsing through satellite images of the Sinai and noticed a large number of new dual carriageways. Most of those were built over the past few years, around 1100 - 1200 kilometers in total. I tracked them on Google Earth: 










The northern coastal corridor is the traditional main road of the Sinai, it passes through the most populated parts of the region. This dual carriageway is considerably older than the rest. It also has much more towns and villages along the road. The Arish bypass is still incomplete however. 

The road along the Suez Canal has recently been widened to four lanes, mostly on its existing alignment. The rest of the corridor along the Red Sea to Sharm el Sheikh was built as a six lane dual carriageway through the desert. This was not a duplication of the old highway. The other interior routes are four lane dual carriageways.

I use the term dual carriageway and not motorway or freeway, since they do not have traditional interchanges, but rather U-turns and right in, right out interchanges. However most of these routes run through the middle of nowhere, where there are no intersecting roads so they do function like free-flow highways.


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## eskandarany (Oct 15, 2008)

The Egyptian military has been displacing people from Sinai and generally murdering the locals with the excuse of 'combatting the insurgency' they created. The peninsula is still closed to outsiders and those roads would have been widened for security reasons.

For all intents and purposes, Sinai is not 'Egypt proper' given the camp David accords limit the presence of Egyptian troops there. So it is full of corruption, smuggling and banditry. Mostly controlled by corrupt elements in the Egyptian government it seems.

If an when this dark period of dictatorship passes, I hope the new infrastructure will be useful. The road to Sharm was known to be rather unsafe (especially as everyone speeds).


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## eskandarany (Oct 15, 2008)

ChrisZwolle said:


> This is what we call _booming:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


These are walled compounds collectively known as 'New Cairo'. The expansion is needed but each compound has its own name and its own price. You are witnessing South African apartheid in reverse.

The only glimmer of hope here is a) the new roads are useful for alleviating congestion around Cairo, even though they are very heavily tolled and manned by corrupt police at fake checkpoints demanding extra bribes on top of the tolls b) there is finally some public transport from Cairo out to Badr under construction.


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## ChrisZwolle (May 7, 2006)

11 road projects were inaugurated on 25 December.

The most significant is a 230 kilometer upgrade of the Cairo - Aswan Desert Road (Highway 35 according to Open Street Map). This road has been upgraded to a six lane motorway with service roads across the entire length.


Daily News Egypt: Al-Sisi inaugurates 11 new roads in Upper Egypt with EGP 18bn investments

This road was initially built in the late 1980s from Cairo to Asyut (according to Google Earth historic satellite imagery). At that time, it was a two-lane road which bypassed all civilization in the Nile Valley. This road has been expanded to a dual carriageway in the late 2000s. It has now been upgraded to a full standard motorway with 2x3 lanes for through traffic and 2x3 lanes for local / at-grade traffic. They also built modern interchanges along the entire route.


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## ChrisZwolle (May 7, 2006)

The original ring road of Cairo is being expanded from 8 to 14 lanes. It will also include a 106 kilometer Bus Rapid Transit system. Construction began in 2020.

I found these recent photos, unfortunatly at a low resolution:


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## ChrisZwolle (May 7, 2006)

They expanded the coastal road from Alexandria to El Alamein to as many as 16 lanes. They also built this curious interchange. It's called 'El Sahel Road' and is supposed to be completed around July/August.










Edit: found the location, it's west of El Alamein: Google Maps

Edit2: maybe not, there are no less than six of these interchanges between El Alamein and El Dabaa.


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