Qatar gears up for the UCI championship, but Pearl residents are worried

By, 2016-10-04

Q Motor - With just a few more days to go, Qatar is gearing up to host cycling’s Road World Championship. Organised by the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI), this event will run from 8-16 October 2016 and Doha is expected to host just over 1,000 cyclists from 75 countries and more than 5,700 participants from national federations, delegations, technicians and journalists. That is in addition to an estimated 30,000 fans for the championships. With the Pearl being part of both the men’s and women’s race course, what do these championships mean for the Pearl’s 15,000 residents?

The Pearl, an artificial island in Doha, will see major disruption from the event. With only one road that provides access to the pearl, residents have been told that this main road will be closed for approximately 10 hours a day for the duration of the competition. This means that those residents wishing to continue their daily routine of school drop-offs, pick-ups and making the daily commute to work will not be able to do so with ease. To deal with this issue, shuttle buses, which leave from Medina Centrale, have been provided to help lessen the disruption that the competition will have on the Pearl residents’ daily lives for the nine days of the championship.

Understandably, this has caused much upset and confusion amongst Pearl residents. Many have decided to stay despite the disruption. Some of these will be skipping school, others, however, will be living in hotels outside of the pearl, whilst others still will leave the country for the duration of the championship.

To deal with this, event organisers started contacting pearl residents, advising them on the details of the closures and transport alternatives. They have further set up the hashtag #QATraffic to keep Doha residents up-to-date with traffic conditions, road closures and traffic expectations during the course of the championships. Information is also posted online here.

We are very excited that Qatar will be hosting the UCI Road World Championships but it is unfortunate that its causing disruption to residents of the Pearl.