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Connection in progress
Downtown is in the midst of yet another fundamental traffic transformation, as construction begins in earnest on the connector bridge planned between the 6 October and 15 May Bridges at the intersection of Galaa Street and 26 July.
(cairolive.com, May 2, 2001) May 1, the day they officially closed off half of the width of Galaa Street downtown just before its vital intersection with 26 July, was a holiday, Labor Day. On the first real day of operation, Wednesday, May 2, the construction zone didn't cause as much pain as most people were expecting. Since Galaa is usually crowded anyway, the extra delays, if any, did not appear to make that much of a difference.
And since the construction is set to continue for quite a while, the hope is that things will stay that way.
 The landscape of central Cairo is undergoing a transformation of landmark proportions, and along with the forthcoming Azhar tunnel. It's definitely one of those things you can't wait to actually see. Two of the city's major bridges, 15 May and 6 October, are going to be connected via a fly-over arching off of 6 October over 26 July Street all the way to the beginning of the 15 May Bridge on the Nile Corniche.
The connector, hypothetically, will provide quicker access for commuters heading for Mohandiseen, 6 October City and the Alexandria Desert Highway. People heading for those areas will no longer have to continue along 6 October Bridge and then wind their way through heavy traffic to get to their destinations.
But how the connector will look is still a mystery, and whether it will really help improve traffic once it's done also remains to be seen.
Construction on the project is scheduled to be ongoing for the next year or more: it began a few months ago on the Nile side, when 26 July Street suddenly became one way heading downtown as foundation pillars were being laid down in preparation for construction of the body of the bridge. Residents of Boulaq suddenly found their entire neighborhood turned into a massive construction zone. All they had to do was look across the river to Zamalek to see what their future held in store for them. On that cushy island, the sky above 26 July Street was now a bridge. It would be the same in Boulaq once the connector bridge was put into place.
 Meanwhile, those commuters whose daily drive includes Galaa Street are hoping the test run on May 2nd will be an indicator of the way things will be for the next year or so. The biggest problem, perhaps, is for those used to parking in the neighborhood of the Al-Ahram buildings on Galaa, an area that has suddenly become a no parking zone, in order to widen the street a bit.
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