Morocco Plans $700 Million Tunnel to Link Ouarzazate and Marrakech

Responding to a written question from RNI deputy from Ouarzazate, Youssef Chiri, Nizar Baraka, Minister of Equipment, presented the results of the preliminary studies dedicated to the project of a tunnel connecting Ouarzazate to Marrakech, which cover two routes. With a total cost of 7 billion dirhams, the first is 5.5 km long, and will pass through the Tichka pass on the N9 national road. This route requires the development of 8.5 km of roads and the construction of a bridge. With a total cost of 10 billion dirhams, the second tunnel route, which is 10 kilometers long, requires the development of 80 km of roads and the construction of 10 bridges.

Nizar Baraka states that his department has excluded the Tichka pass option and has therefore retained the route via the Ourika. This route is not only an alternative to the N9 national road but also reduces the journey between Ouarzazate and Marrakech by 80 minutes for light vehicles and up to 112 minutes for trucks (compared to a saving of 20 to 29 minutes for the Tichka pass circuit).

The cost of the detailed preliminary studies that the ministry intends to finalize amounts to 30 million dirhams. Once these studies are completed, additional geophysical and geotechnical studies will be carried out in 2022, then the technical, economic and environmental studies relating to the tunnel and the roads connected to it, as well as the operating and road safety equipment, by the end of 2023.