Pilgrimage Road Project links Iraq, Saudi Arabia via Najaf
The Zubaidah Trail route between Iraq and Saudi Arabia.
Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) – The first and second phases of the Pilgrimage Road Project in Al-Najaf Governorate, which is the shortest road connecting to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, have been progressed by the Iraqi Ministry of Construction, Housing, and Public Municipalities at a rate of 50 km for each stage.
The Pilgrimage Road Project will help to revitalize commercial and economic activity between Iraq and Saudi Arabia, as well as serve as a gateway for investment and tourism into Najaf and Iraq as a whole. The project will also make it easier for religious guest convoys to arrive by land.
The Zubaidah Trail runs parallel to the Pilgrimage Route Project on the Iraqi side of the border with Saudi Arabia. Several decades ago, pilgrims from Iraq and surrounding nations used the Zubaidah Trail to reach Mecca in Saudi Arabia.
The Pilgrimage Road Project is being carried out under the direction of the Ministry’s Roads and Bridges Directorate.
The first stage of the road’s construction having reached 72% of the bonding layer’s removal from the path of the road and preparation work for the polymerized surface layer having cost about 36 billion dinars.
The building of 60 different bridges was part of the second phase of the road, which has a completion rate of around 35%. The work is still ongoing with the installation of layers of earthen ramp, broken gravel, and crushed limestone, which will cost about 31 billion dinars.