Hurghada Starts Trialling New Traffic Directions on Saturday 26 September

Hurghada begins a trial of new traffic directions on Saturday 26 September, Red Sea Governor Walid El-Barqi has ordered, according to Sada El-Balad.

The changes affect the direction of travel on a number of main streets and axes. None will be made permanent until it has been tested on the ground and its real effect on traffic measured, the governor said. During the trial, traffic will be monitored and any problems caused by the changed routes recorded and dealt with before the new directions are adopted for good.

The decision came at a meeting that also reset priorities for Hurghada's road and paving plan for the 2026-27 financial year, approving a number of main axes and streets for inclusion. Priority goes to the axes serving the largest number of the city's districts, weighted by traffic density, a road's touristic and visual importance, and how far utility work there has progressed. Areas where utility works are already complete go first, so that paving can start without the road being dug open again afterwards.

El-Barqi ordered advance coordination with the water, sanitation, electricity and telecoms companies before paving begins in any target area, and a logistics plan linking the contractors, the North and South Hurghada districts, the utility authorities and the Red Sea traffic department.

Among those at the meeting were the governorate secretary-general, the head of the Red Sea traffic department and his representatives, and Prof. Wael Bakhit of the transport engineering department at Alexandria University, who advises on roads.

The report does not say which streets change direction, or how long the trial runs before a decision.

That missing detail is the one drivers need. If you drive in Hurghada, expect junctions and one-way runs to behave differently from Saturday, and expect it to change again if the trial goes badly - which, the governor has said in as many words, is the point of running it.