Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi inspected on Friday construction projects in Cairo, including the 156-km long Middle Ring road, that links cities east and west of Cairo, the presidency said.

Consisting of 16 lanes - eight on each direction - the Middle Ring road is considered one of the widest in the Middle East, Presidential spokesman Bassam Radi said.

The road extends from the city of Belbeis in the Sharkia governorate in the east of Egypt to the Al-Dabaa corridor in the west of Egypt, said Radi.

The road has been constructed to serve tens of thousands of vehicles daily; help reduce traffic congestion and travel time; limit car crashes and save fuel costs, Radi added.

The Middle Ring road is located in an area between Greater Cairo’s Ring road and the Regional Ring road serving all governorates of Upper Egypt, Nile Delta and Canal cities.

It also serves the new cities on both sides of the road in the east and west of Cairo, such as New Cairo and the 6th of October city.

The president’s Friday tour also included Al-Matariya district and the new Mohamed El-Assar axis linking east Cairo with the Shubra-Benha axis and the Rod Al-Farag-Dabaa axis.

Mohamed El-Assar axis saves travel time from Cairo toward the north-western direction to Al-Dabaa then Matrouh, said Radi.

He added that the axis contains many service centers, gas stations and rest areas on both sides of the road.

El-Sisi, during his tour, discussed workflow with workers and officials at different construction sites.

He issued directives to clean and line all canals and drains in the area and to pave and raise efficiency of the roads.

The president followed on the executive status and workflow of the construction work, highlighting the importance of sticking to the timeframes in executing these projects on high technical and engineering specifications.

He also affirmed the need to strictly apply the preventive measures against coronavirus to ensure the safety of the workers at the construction sites.