Drive Down a Street, Drive back a Road

Sunday, 30 September 2007
By Adel Al-Malki and Mohammed Al-Kinani
THE Numbering and Labeling Department in Jeddah Municipality has completed renumbering streets and improving sign boards all over the city.
Al-Shareef Hussein, the department director, said they renumbered roads from north to south with double-digit numbers, and from west to east with one-digit numbers. The number increases the farther an establishment is from the coast. The new numbering system divided Jeddah into four main sectors, each subdivided into districts, then into small neighborhoods with main streets in-between.
Numbers 1001 to 1999 are for streets in the north-western part of the city; 2001 to 2199 for the north-eastern part; 3001 to 3199 for the south-eastern parts; and 4001 to 4199 for the southern-western parts.
Hussein said that the 60 and 70 Streets will retain their old names and numbers while residents acquaint with the changes in the rest.
"The new number system will make it easier for visitors and drivers to know and locate each place," said Hussein.
Jeddah Municipality has also completed classifying streets into major roads, streets and paths. It defined main road as one that cuts across districts and have at least three lanes.
"The combined streets are the streets that have no service lines and cross more than a district, like Hera'a Street," he said.
"Subsidiary streets serve only one district and have one or two lanes."
According to the new classification, there will be 16 main roads in Jeddah. Among these are Mohammad bin Abdul Aziz, Prince Sultan, Prince Mete'eb, Prince Majed, Al-Andalus, Sari, Al-Makaronh, Abdul-Allah Suliman and Palestine Street.
Around 50 newly designed signboards will be erected in the main road intersections.
Some 11 neighborhoods were given names. The signboards to be erected in the streets of these newly named neighborhoods will have a brief history of its namesakes.
Signboards in Mushrifah, Al-Aziziyah and in 42 other districts were improved.