Project Details

Narrative Description of Project:
Beirut Urban Transport Project will [a] improve traffic management through technical assistance to build capacity for traffic management within a Traffic Management Organization and financing traffic signals and layout improvements for intersections in the Greater Beirut Area; [b] control parking in selected zones and increase off-street parking capacity in those zones through developing appropriate policies, regulations and operational arrangements and evaluation of the feasibility of the construction of parking facilities to be concessioned to private operators; [c] improve traffic flow along major corridors by financing the construction of grade separations at nineteen highly-congested intersections; and [d] develop urban transport plans and follow-up projects.

Description of Actual Services Provided:
The actual services included all the preparatory work required to assess the project by the World Bank.
A multi-disciplinary team of experts, specialists, and engineers worked in close coordination producing the following deliverables:
1- Transportation planning and modeling urban traffic control strategies, using advanced network and simulation models; including producing travel and traffic forecasts at the macro and micro levels.
2- Producing traffic control solutions at the corridor and individual intersections level.
3- Proposing intersection geometric design improvements.
4- Designing traffic signals for over 200 intersections (PS&E).
5- Designing a CCTV surveillance system on 4 major corridors involving 40 cameras (PS&E).
6- Designing a Traffic Management Center (TMC) where all field equipment is tied, for monitoring and control, equipped with advanced ITS applications (PS&E).
7- Design a system of on-street parking control comprising about 600 solar powered pay-and-display machines (PS&E).
8- Preliminary design of 13 grade separations (overpasses and underpasses), part of a corridor improvement program (PS&E).
9- Detailed economic analysis of all project components.
10- Category “A” Environmental Impact Assessment of all project components, including a full public participation process.
11- Cultural heritage and archaeologic studies resulting in mitigative measures to be implemented during construction, and defining chance-find procedures, for all 16 grade separations.
12- Social impact assessment of all project components.
13- Resettlement action plans resulting from expropriations required for grade separations construction.
14- Review and assessment of current institutional framework and arrangements in urban transport in Greater Beirut Area (GBA).
15- Establishing the institutional framework and conditions for setting up a Traffic Management Organization (TMO) for GBA.
16- Development of policies and regulations for organizing on-street parking.