Casablanca: Endless road works | L’Economiste

There’s no end to the roadworks in Casablanca!  The Derb Omar wholesale trade district, the Mohammed Smiha Street, the Avenue des Forces Armées Royales, the Gauthier district, the Ouled Ziane road, the Mohammed VI boulevard… All 4 corners of the city are affected by infrastructure works. Whether on the trajectory of the future tramway lines, the main thoroughfares or alleyways, traffic has become problematic. Some streets are even closed. One example is Moussa Bnou Noussair Street, which carries heavy traffic linking the city center to Boulevard Zerktouni via Boulevard Moulay Youssef. The Zerktouni passageway, which recently underwent rehabilitation work, was again closed in both directions. Traffic only resumed a few days ago.
If today, vehicle traffic is more or less fluid, in two weeks the situation will change with the start of the school year and its endless traffic jams. At the Mers Sultan roundabout, motorists no longer know who has priority. Some traffic lights work, others don’t, or don’t even exist (as is the case for the Allal El Fassi Street). Tourists and visitors crossing downtown Casablanca are bewildered by this indescribable chaos. The city, which hopes to attract 6 million domestic and foreign tourists by 2030, is struggling to speed up the implementation of road and basic infrastructure projects. This delay translates into a loss of attractiveness that is growing year by year.  Even Casablancans do desert their city as soon as the holidays arrive. This situation is likely to continue until next year, as the future lines 3 and 4 are still under construction. While the busway is due to go into service in the next few days, the new tramway lines will not be commissioned before 2024.
The  current state of pavements and sidewalks is due firstly to the multitude of projects being carried out at the same time, but also to a maintenance backlog of at least 5 years (including the period of the health crisis). The amount needed for road maintenance alone is around 700 million Dirhams (USD 70 million) / year.
But it must also be said that in some neighborhoods (such as Mers Sultan), roads and pavements are worse than they were before the mobility projects began. The lack of coordination between the various stakeholders is glaringly obvious. The commune, the Local Development Corporations (SDLs), the Ministry of Public Works, the Casablanca-Settat Regional Council, and other stakeholders. Each player operates independently, without an orchestral conductor, who is supposed to have an overview and provide a sense of direction, with an overall vision and strategy. Over the past few years, the Casa-Aménagement SDL local development corporation has embarked on a large-scale project involving the construction, upgrading, and redevelopment of roadways, sidewalks, and plazas, particularly on major thoroughfares. Nearly 2 billion Dirhams (USD 200 million), financed by the General Directorate of Territorial Authorities (DGCT) of the Interior Ministry, have been earmarked for this operation. Today, the results on the ground are still not yet meeting the expectations of the people of Casablanca. 

Aziza EL AFFAS