Take note of these road closures in Riyadh this week
Be sure to plan for extra travel time…
If you haven’t heard, U.S. President Donald Trump is heading to Saudi Arabia – his first official foreign stop since the inauguration of his second tenure in presidency.
He is expected to touch down in Riyadh on Tuesday May 13 to hold bilateral meetings.
The presidential visit is drawing several prominent figures from Wall Street and Silicon Valley to the Kingdom. A Saudi-U.S. investment forum announced just this week and scheduled for Tuesday May 13 in Riyadh will feature guests including BlackRock CEO Larry Fink, Palantir CEO Alex Karp, and the CEOs of major firms like Citigroup, IBM, Qualcomm, Alphabet, and Franklin Templeton, among others. White House AI and crypto czar David Sacks will also be present.
As such, Riyadh is expected to pull out all the stops for Trump. Based on directives from security authorities, a plan has been made to intermittently close some main and secondary roads to regulate traffic in Riyadh starting today (Monday May 12).
Here are the details of the closures:
- King Salman Road (east to west) and some surrounding areas will experience partial or full closures;
- King Khalid Road (north to south);
- King Fahd Road (north to south of Khurais Road)
- Roads surrounding the King Abdulaziz International Conference Centre will have intensified monitoring, and some may become inaccessible, as well as roads leading to and from The Ritz-Carlton Hotel, Turaif Historic District, Al-Yamamah Palace and the Royal Court, and Guest Palaces;
- West Riyadh, including the Diplomatic Quarter (DQ), highways, and Diriyah, will experience partial closures at all entry and exit points;
- Schools will conduct online classes on Tuesday May 13 and Wednesday May 14. The DQ campus of the British International School Riyadh (BISR) will also be closed on Tuesday May 13 and Wednesday May 14; and
- At-Turaif, Bujairi Terrace and Zallal in Diriyah will be completely closed until Wednesday May 14.
We suggest avoiding central roads and the areas mentioned above, especially the DQ.
Monday May 12, 6pm to midnight
Closure Rate: 70% to 80% intermittently during the specified period.
Tuesday May 13, 8am to 11am, noon to 4.30pm & 6pm to 11pm
Closure Rate: 70% to 80% intermittently throughout the day.
Wednesday May 14, 6am to 6pm
Closure Rate: 70% to 80% intermittently during the specified period.
Images: What’s On Archives