The construction of the impressive road link intended to connect Tiznit, south of Agadir, to Dakhla, 350 km from Mauritania, is progressing at great strides. The completion rate is announced at 97%. In August 2023, we estimated that it would be another two years before the full opening of this gigantic 11 billion dirham (€1 billion) project aimed at developing Morocco's southern provinces and confirming the Kingdom's hold over these territories. It has now been revealed that there remain two missing links before the complete realization of this gigantic project worth 11 billion dirhams (one billion euros) intended for the development of the southern provinces of Morocco and to confirm the influence of the Kingdom over these territories. The first missing link is a sector of eight kilometers of expressway the size of a highway intended to bypass Tiznit from the west and thus reach Guelmim by another bypass, the opening of which is announced at the end of this year 2024. The second is the large bridge over the Sakia El Hamra wadi in Laâyoune (our image), in order to avoid the center of the capital of the southern provinces, work on which has just begun.
This large bridge with a length of 1,700 meters will be the longest in the Kingdom. At a cost of 1.3 billion dirhams (120 million euros), it will reduce travel time, helping to avoid frequent interruptions due to flooding and silting which occur in this sector, particularly at the southern exit of Laâyoune, lined with masses of sand (our photo).
A first engineering structure 600 m long spanning the Sakia El Hamra wadi was inaugurated in July 2023. However, it leads to the center of Laâyoune.
The Laâyoune-Dakhla link is completed, as a two-lane road (our photo). It is therefore not an express road with the dimensions of a highway, contrary to what is falsely written here and there.
However, it is very smooth, apart from a sector with a rather incomprehensible speed limit, and is sufficient for the relatively limited traffic observed there.
North of Laâyoune, you can now drive without interruption on a magnificent four-lane road to Guelmim.
Along the Atlantic Ocean, key sections of the bridges overlooking Wadi el Waar (our photo) and Wadi Chbika are now open to traffic. These are absolutely remarkable works.
The last black spot is on the section under construction which will lead from the west of Tiznit to the Guelmim bypass. The nature of the terrain and the rocks that must be controlled over 8 km south of the communes of Bounaamane and Sidi Ouabdelli, particularly in Ait Ibrahim (our photo), present major difficulties.
The Ministry of Equipment and Water, however, announces that this work should be completed by the end of 2024. We will therefore soon be able to travel on a much smoother artery (in black on our map).
The expected opening is important, because it will avoid the complex section located south of Tiznit, which passes through Lakhssas and Bouizakarne (in red on our map).
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