Riyadh has started work on a major junction upgrade in the north of the capital, with the Royal Commission for Riyadh City launching construction of an 850-metre tunnel and four flyovers at the intersection of Al-Thumama Road and Othman bin Affan Road as part of a wider effort to ease pressure on one of the city’s busiest corridors. Officials said the scheme is designed to improve traffic movement in multiple directions and strengthen links between two important arterial routes. The project was announced by the Royal Commission for Riyadh City on April 15, with works scheduled to begin on April 16. The commission said the package includes a tunnel running along Al-Thumama Road and four elevated crossings with a combined length of about 2,000 metres. Saudi Gazette, citing the same official programme, reported that the layout will also include service roads with two lanes in each direction to serve nearby districts and local commercial activity.
Officials have presented the scheme as more than a stand-alone traffic intervention. The intersection works sit inside the Al-Thumama Road Development Project’s central section, itself part of Riyadh’s Main and Ring Road Axes Development Program, a large transport modernisation drive intended to expand road capacity, improve connectivity and support the capital’s fast urban growth. The Royal Commission said the broader central section of the Al-Thumama axis stretches 10 kilometres, covers five main intersections and includes 11 bridges and five tunnels, with a target capacity of 200,000 vehicles a day.
That wider setting matters because Riyadh’s transport strategy is being built in layers. The commission launched the second phase of the Main and Ring Road Development Program in February 2025, saying the package covered eight projects worth more than SAR 8 billion. It later said a third group of works, unveiled on December 29, 2025, included six projects with a total cost also exceeding SAR 8 billion and a delivery horizon of three to four years. Alongside Al-Thumama, the programme spans corridors such as Jeddah Road, Taif Road, King Abdulaziz Road and Othman ibn Affan Road, all of them aimed at absorbing rising traffic demand across a growing city.
For motorists, the immediate significance will be whether the redesign can cut travel times at a junction that links busy residential and commercial areas in northern Riyadh. Saudi Gazette reported that the new tunnel is intended to create uninterrupted movement along Thumama Road, while the flyovers are meant to separate directional flows and reduce conflict points. The commission has also tied the project to a wider list of expected gains, including stronger road safety, faster emergency access, lower emissions, better landscaping and higher investment value in surrounding areas.
Large intersection rebuilds, however, come with short-term disruption, and that is where public confidence is often tested. The Royal Commission said it has coordinated with relevant authorities on an integrated traffic management plan to handle diversions during construction. It added that digital mapping systems and navigation applications have been updated to help drivers move through the area, while Saudi Gazette reported that temporary diversions, on-site monitoring, directional signage and other precautionary measures would be used to contain congestion and improve safety around the works.
The scheme also reflects a broader policy direction in Riyadh, where transport infrastructure is increasingly being framed as an economic development tool as much as a mobility project. The Royal Commission has linked the road-building programme to the capital’s longer-term ambitions under Vision 2030, describing the effort as part of a plan to position Riyadh as a leading global metropolis and a regional hub for sustainable transport and logistics. That language points to the balance the authorities are trying to strike: easing present-day congestion while preparing the road network for population growth, investment expansion and rising freight and commuter demand.
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Saudi Arabia