Saudi Arabia has signed $634m worth of road contracts this week mainly in the Riyadh area.

These contracts include the first phase of Alkhari-Quwaieya road, phase two of Afif-Dhalam road and the road linking Riyadh-Qassim road with Riyadh-Huraimala road.

The contracts have been awarded as part of the kingdom’s wider programme of road-building. Saudi Arabia has earmarked 389 new road projects across the kingdom. These roads will stretch for a total length of 6,600 kilometres and have a budget of $3bn, says the Transport Minister Jabara al-Seraisry.

The Transport Ministry has also set aside $200m to be spent on road maintenance and a further $13m to be spent on studies for 2,762km of new roads.