CAIRO: Traffic at the Ring Road and Maadi exits was blocked Sunday as President Mubarak inaugurated the Mariutiya Axis bridge, sources at Cairo traffic said. Thousands of cars congested on the Autostrade highway for more than two hours between 9 and 11 am. The road was dotted with traffic police and military personnel on the ring road exits between Maadi and Giza. The visit also caused a gridlock along the Maadi Corniche heading Downtown Sunday morning. "The road was blocked because the president's convoy was passing over the Ring Road, an official at Cairo's central traffic operations room told Daily News Egypt on condition of anonymity. The road from Nasr City to Maadi was also jammed starting from the Citadel until the Ring Road bridge while traffic from Helwan in the direction of Nasr City and New Cairo was jammed starting from Zahraa El Maadi. Mariutiya Axis, which closes the circle of the Ring Road, is expected to ease traffic inside Giza as well as traffic from and to the Alexandria Desert Road and Sixth of October. The 2-km axis built in a record 26 months links the northern and southern arcs of the ring road and will reduce the cost of goods' transportation from outside and inside the capital. With traffic blocked on the Autostrade, drivers were forced to use the Corniche which was consequently jammed. Others used inner roads inside Maadi, resulting in a traffic jam inside the suburb. Traffic returned to normal after 11 am. Drivers are advised to call the Cairo traffic hotline 136 to report traffic jams and ask for assistance.
