Agadir’s Traffic Nightmare: World Cup Dreams Threatened by Unfinished Ring Road

While two sections have been completed and are now open to traffic as part of the Agadir northeast ring road project launched in 2020, the third section intended to relieve traffic and directly connect the airport and the seaside resort of Taghazout Bay is struggling to become a reality. The signatory partners had committed to financing its realization as soon as the first two sections were delivered. But this promise has not been kept so far. In the absence of this essential link, the only alternative for motorists is to cross the national road connecting Agadir to Essaouira, to reach Taghazout, Aourir, Tamri and Imssouane.

Consequence: there are monstrous traffic jams that block traffic every summer, resulting in endless journeys. More than 30,000 vehicles are already circulating every day in summer on this axis. To travel a few kilometers between the city center and the commune of Taghazout during peak hours, it takes more than two hours. Some vacationers are forced to take the road at dawn, while others simply give up visiting the beaches in the north. "To go to Imourane or Taghazout, it sometimes takes three hours round trip for a distance of only a few tens of kilometers," says an exasperated motorist to the daily Al Akhbar.

This chronic problem also has a negative impact on the economy of Agadir and its region. Taghazout Bay, the flagship of Moroccan seaside tourism, where many classified hotels are located, risks no longer attracting national and international customers as in previous years. If nothing is done before the hosting of continental and global football competitions, the movements of several delegations and supporters from hotels to the city’s stadium will be complicated. "The road infrastructure must be at the level of the tourism ambitions. We cannot promote a high-end destination and leave vacationers stuck for hours in traffic jams," notes a local hotel operator.

This chronic problem is a concern for experts and local stakeholders. They are calling for an urgent acceleration of the completion of the missing section, but also for the widening of the national road between Agadir and Essaouira.