Hamad Town walkway plan revived after space rejection

TDT | Manama

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A proposal to build a rubber-surfaced walkway stretching from Roundabout 4 to Roundabout 7 in Hamad Town is back on the table after earlier plans were turned down due to lack of space and the tangle of pipes and cables running beneath the site.

The path, which would run along the right-hand side of Block 1207 and span roughly 1.8 kilometres, was first pitched in 2020 but met a dead end.

The land earmarked for the track is only 11 metres wide.

Tree-planting

Part of it has already been given over to tree-planting as part of a greening drive and the rest sits on top of essential service lines.

This time, Abdulla Mubarak Bilal Al Qubaisi, the councillor for the area, took the matter back to the relevant bodies and led a site inspection with staff from the Northern Municipality, the Ministry of Municipalities Affairs and the Electricity and Water Authority.

Those from the utility side said the pipes and cables might be moved, but much would depend on what the walkway would be made of, whether brick, asphalt or rubber.

The ministry side, meanwhile, warned that the route would need to be fenced off given its closeness to a busy road.

The idea has now been passed to the Roads Directorate and the Electricity and Water Authority for review.

A full technical report is expected before anything is cleared to proceed.

Al Qubaisi said there was little space in the area for walking and exercise despite it being one of the more densely packed parts of the town.

Many residents already use the same stretch to walk, he said, especially the elderly and the young.