ALKHOBAR: Live streaming the movement of travelers on the causeway, full alerts and good preparations for the holiday seasons, all these solutions by the King Fahd Causeway Authority and Passports Department in the Eastern Province had no positive effects to solve congestion on the most crowded bridge in the Kingdom, particularly during this holiday season.
On Tuesday, the causeway witnessed significant crowding of passengers, who began to arrive at the bridge early in the morning; traffic reached its peak in the afternoon between 3:00 p.m. and 4:00 p.m., a local newspaper reported.
Queuing vehicles were seen from as far as six km from the passenger check-in area.
Many travelers complained of the crowding, with only two lanes for Passport agents to check passengers’ documents, noting that this is actually one of the main causes of congestion on the bridge, especially during holiday seasons, which usually experience great crowding because of the lack of staff. Passengers demanded addressing the need to increase the number of Passport officials during such seasons for the speedy handling of passenger check-in procedures.
However, the new thing about this congestion was that passengers needed two hours to reach Saudi Customs, which is unusual in the movement of bridge traffic during the holidays, where passengers only had to pass through the Passport area.
A number of passengers documented their suffering through photos and videos published via social networking sites.
Many travelers were forced to return after a long wait on the causeway amid the queues of vehicles that were almost not moving because of the overcrowding.
Some passengers chose to escape the hustle and rescheduled their trip to Bahrain by going early in the morning, but this idea did not work either, because many travelers did the same to escape the overcrowding, and found the same fate nonetheless, although their waiting period was less.
A source at King Fahd Causeway told the publication that traffic on the bridge during holidays and summer season has recorded high intensity among travelers between the two countries, although Passport officers are highly qualified and work as quick as possible to end the travel procedures for passengers.
He attributed the causes of delays in passenger check-in times to the need of the Passport agents to check documents, the status of those under legal age, and to check on those travelers who are banned from traveling, and other legal issues.