Wednesday, September 13, 2006

Casablanca 2010 - A massive facelift.

Casablanca is to get a massive facelift to boost its attractiveness for tourists, cut pollution, and improve traffic flows. The projects are part of the “Casablanca 2010” vision, a series of urban projects aiming to solve the problems of pollution, stress, and accidents caused by traffic jams, and make the kingdom's largest city an easier place in which to live and work.

It seems the Casablanca inhabitants' long held dream to have tramway and subway lines in their city will soon become reality. Details about Casablanca's three urban transportation projects will be announced soon.

The Minister of Transport and Equipment, Karim Ghallab, said that his department will partially contribute to the projects' budget.

The projects' feasibility studies were conducted earlier by a group of international experts. They concluded that although the tramway and subway projects are expensive, they can be the only solution to the increasingly severe traffic problems in the Moroccan economic capital.

Some Dh3.25 billion ($381 million) will be spent re-organizing boulevards, building roads and roundabouts, modernizing public transport, creating parks, and promoting tourism.

According to Mohamed Kabbaj, the king's representative in the city, most of the funds, supplied by the government, banks, and local communities, will go toward "improving conditions of transport and traffic flow, which currently cause pollution and waste a lot of time".

The overall objective is to make Casablanca "attractive to foreign investors and a destination for those who would like to explore this city's civilization, culture, and architecture," added Kabbaj.

The same aim will be also targeted in Rabat, where a tramway will cross the city and link it to its neighbour, Salé. The 18 km line will have about 40 stops.

Casablanca - photo Suzanna Clarke


New flights to Casa


In another boost for Casablanca, EasyJet PLC, Europe's second-largest no-frills airline, has announced plans to launch six new routes from its new base at Madrid's Barajas airport. One of the routes is a direct flight to Casablanca.

Two of the new routes are domestic, to Oviedo and La Coruna, while four are international, to Lyon and Toulouse in France, Rome in Italy and Casablanca.

The new services will start February next year. EasyJet will initially base three aircraft at Barajas.


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1 comment:

Anonymous said...

A Casa facelift is a long time overdue.....