Marrakech-Agadir expressway
Encyclopedia
The Autoroute Casablanca - Agadir is a Moroccan
new main road in Morocco. Building began in 2000 and the road was inaugurated on 21 June 2010 by Prince Moulay Rachid.
The road is 453 kilometres (281.5 mi) long and connects the cities of Casablanca
and Agadir
through the city of Marrakech
and High Atlas
mountains.
and 162 km Setat-Marrakesh
The expressway
takes its origins south of the residential area of Casablanca
, at the interchange with the A5 Casablanca-El Jadida expressway. It continues south past Bouskoura and serves the Mohamed V airport with an exit. A toll station is placed just south of there. The road then circumvales the town of Berrechid
serving it with an exit north of it for south-bound traffic and one south of it for north-bound traffic.
The road was opened in 2002 to Settat, and construction on the remaining part started in 2003 reaching Marrakesh in 2007. In 2005 the 17 km bypass of Settat opened. When the Marrakech-Agadir expressway
opens in 2009 it will be directly connected to this A7.
The Casablanca-Marrakesh highway was completed and opened to traffic on April 17, 2007.
Toll-revenues of this road, including the Casablanca bypass, totaled 219 million dirhams
, reaching 3rd spot of top earners
ADM
signed an agreement with the Hasan II Society for economic and social development for a refinancing scheme of the ADM. This financial injection made construction of new roads possible and construction started in 2006.
The road will be a Toll road
or péage
to pay back the investments. Also income from retailers and petrolstations along the route is taken into account.
Beside the ADM several other parties are involved. Some major investors participate for specific sections of the road or a general goal.
The main investors are (in Million Dirham) .
requires much structures as fly-overs
, viaduct
s and bridges. The existing national road (route nationale) is used for transport of building material etc. Along this route new exits and side roads are constructed to several main working locations and temporary factories (concrete
, storage, camp-sites for builders, etc.).
The new road crosses the existing road several times and follows more or less the same route through the mountains.
The road has 8 exits/entries, 9 toll-port gates and 4 rest stops
with petrol stations
, cafés
and a room or building for praying. Also 13 viaducts and one tunnel was built to complete the road (excluding viaducts built over the road and/or tunnels under the road for crossing inferior local roads or feet-bridges: if you include these another 100 structures can be included.
The existing national road will remain open as a toll-free alternative for the autoroute as well as allowing access to smaller villages and roads. Traveling time between Marrakech and Agadir will be reduced greatly as the autoroute allows overtaking everywhere (4 lane), bypasses villages and allows higher speeds. Possible speed on 2-lane national roads is often greatly reduced due to very slow lorries crawling up a hill while steep bends and traffic from the other side make overtaking hazardous or impossible.
The completion of the Marrakech-Agadir section complete a North-South corridor of toll-roads / expressways that shortens the travel-distance on the route Tangier
to Agadir by nearly 50 km (via toll-roads the distance is 776 and via the Route Nationale 824 km. But the biggest save is driving-time: the average traveling time Tangier-Agadir over national (free) roads is 14,5 hours while the same via the different toll-roads is under 7,5 hours
Morocco
Morocco , officially the Kingdom of Morocco , is a country located in North Africa. It has a population of more than 32 million and an area of 710,850 km², and also primarily administers the disputed region of the Western Sahara...
new main road in Morocco. Building began in 2000 and the road was inaugurated on 21 June 2010 by Prince Moulay Rachid.
The road is 453 kilometres (281.5 mi) long and connects the cities of Casablanca
Casablanca
Casablanca is a city in western Morocco, located on the Atlantic Ocean. It is the capital of the Grand Casablanca region.Casablanca is Morocco's largest city as well as its chief port. It is also the biggest city in the Maghreb. The 2004 census recorded a population of 2,949,805 in the prefecture...
and Agadir
Agadir
Agadir is a major city in southwest Morocco, capital of the Agadir province and the Sous-Massa-Draa economic region .-Etymology:...
through the city of Marrakech
Marrakech
Marrakech or Marrakesh , known as the "Ochre city", is the most important former imperial city in Morocco's history...
and High Atlas
High Atlas
High Atlas, also called the Grand Atlas Mountains is a mountain range in central Morocco in Northern Africa.The High Atlas rises in the west at the Atlantic Ocean and stretches in an eastern direction to the Moroccan-Algerian border. At the Atlantic and to the southwest the range drops abruptly...
mountains.
Casablanca - Marrakech
It has been designated A7 as its identity marker. Total length is 219 km: 57 km Casablanca-SettatSettat
Settat is a city in Morocco between the national capital Rabat and Marrakech. Settat is located at the heart of the country, south of Casablanca. Settat is the capital of the prefecture of Chaouia-Ouardigha and Settat Province, the oldest and largest city in the province, in both size and population...
and 162 km Setat-Marrakesh
The expressway
Controlled-access highway
A controlled-access highway is a highway designed exclusively for high-speed vehicular traffic, with all traffic flow and ingress/egress regulated...
takes its origins south of the residential area of Casablanca
Casablanca
Casablanca is a city in western Morocco, located on the Atlantic Ocean. It is the capital of the Grand Casablanca region.Casablanca is Morocco's largest city as well as its chief port. It is also the biggest city in the Maghreb. The 2004 census recorded a population of 2,949,805 in the prefecture...
, at the interchange with the A5 Casablanca-El Jadida expressway. It continues south past Bouskoura and serves the Mohamed V airport with an exit. A toll station is placed just south of there. The road then circumvales the town of Berrechid
Berrechid
Berrechid is a city in western Morocco, located 36.77 km from Casablanca....
serving it with an exit north of it for south-bound traffic and one south of it for north-bound traffic.
The road was opened in 2002 to Settat, and construction on the remaining part started in 2003 reaching Marrakesh in 2007. In 2005 the 17 km bypass of Settat opened. When the Marrakech-Agadir expressway
Marrakech-Agadir expressway
The Autoroute Casablanca - Agadir is a Moroccan new main road in Morocco. Building began in 2000 and the road was inaugurated on 21 June 2010 by Prince Moulay Rachid....
opens in 2009 it will be directly connected to this A7.
The Casablanca-Marrakesh highway was completed and opened to traffic on April 17, 2007.
Toll-revenues of this road, including the Casablanca bypass, totaled 219 million dirhams
Moroccan dirham
The dirham is the currency of Morocco. The plural form is pronounced darahim, although in French and English "dirhams" is commonly used. Its ISO 4217 code is "MAD". It is subdivided into 100 santimat . The dirham is issued by the Bank Al-Maghrib, the central bank of Morocco...
, reaching 3rd spot of top earners
Financial
In June 2004 the Moroccan operator of expresswaysControlled-access highway
A controlled-access highway is a highway designed exclusively for high-speed vehicular traffic, with all traffic flow and ingress/egress regulated...
ADM
Société Nationale des Autoroutes du Maroc
The Société Nationale des Autoroutes du Maroc is the Morocco's national authority for the management of over 850 km of Moroccan expressways. ADM is based in Rabat....
signed an agreement with the Hasan II Society for economic and social development for a refinancing scheme of the ADM. This financial injection made construction of new roads possible and construction started in 2006.
The road will be a Toll road
Toll road
A toll road is a privately or publicly built road for which a driver pays a toll for use. Structures for which tolls are charged include toll bridges and toll tunnels. Non-toll roads are financed using other sources of revenue, most typically fuel tax or general tax funds...
or péage
Péage
The Péage is the French word for Toll road and in France and other French speaking countries it refers to the complete toll-road system or a specific main route using toll roads: we use the péage and not the route nationale...
to pay back the investments. Also income from retailers and petrolstations along the route is taken into account.
Beside the ADM several other parties are involved. Some major investors participate for specific sections of the road or a general goal.
The main investors are (in Million Dirham) .
- BID - Islamic Bank for Development - 965 MDH
- FADES -Arab Fund for social and economic development - 920
- FKDEA- Kuwait Fund for Arab and Economic Development - 450
- BAD - African Bank for Development - 1315
- JBIC- Japan Bank for International CooperationJapan Bank for International CooperationThe , also known by its acronym, JBIC, is a Japanese public financial institution and export credit agency, and was created on October 1, 1999, through the merging of the Japan Export-Import Bank and the Overseas Economic Cooperation Fund ....
- 1370
Overview
Below is a short overview of the different sub-projects, the costs (against the estimated costs) and the main contractors for that section. For some sections, only contractors for initial work are reported.| # | from | via | to | length | real and (est cost) in M Million One million or one thousand thousand, is the natural number following 999,999 and preceding 1,000,001. The word is derived from the early Italian millione , from mille, "thousand", plus the augmentative suffix -one.In scientific notation, it is written as or just 106... Dh Moroccan dirham The dirham is the currency of Morocco. The plural form is pronounced darahim, although in French and English "dirhams" is commonly used. Its ISO 4217 code is "MAD". It is subdivided into 100 santimat . The dirham is issued by the Bank Al-Maghrib, the central bank of Morocco... | contractors | from |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Marrakech Marrakech Marrakech or Marrakesh , known as the "Ochre city", is the most important former imperial city in Morocco's history... |
– | Marrakech West Interchange |
33 km | 583 (783) | El Hajji Srfiani The Arab Contractors |
 Morocco Egypt |
| 2 | Marr. West Interchg. | - | Chichaoua Chichaoua Chichaoua is a town in Chichaoua Province, Marrakech-Tensift-Al Haouz, Morocco. According to the 2004 census it has a population of 15,657.-References:... |
51 km | 810 (1060) | Burhan |  Kuwait |
| 3 | Chichaoua | – | Imintanout | 33 km | 753 (975) | SEPROB SNCE |
Morocco |
| 4 | Imintanout | PK13 | Argana | 59 km | 2125 (2644) | TECNOVIA COVEC |
 Portugal Mainland China |
| 5 | Argana | PK 20 | Ameskroud | 46 km | 1754 (2132) | DOGUS |  Turkey |
| 6 | Ameskroud | - | Agadir Agadir Agadir is a major city in southwest Morocco, capital of the Agadir province and the Sous-Massa-Draa economic region .-Etymology:... |
11 km | 287 (293) | Planum Mostogradnja Mostogradnja Mostogradnja is the leading Serbian bridge building company, with headquarters in Belgrade and daughter companies in Podgorica, Montenegro and Banjaluka, Bosnia and Herzegovina and a representative office in Moscow, Russia... |
 Serbia |
Construction
Work is divided in several main sections, each with their own contractors and workers. Construction of a 4-lane motorway through the mountains of the High AtlasHigh Atlas
High Atlas, also called the Grand Atlas Mountains is a mountain range in central Morocco in Northern Africa.The High Atlas rises in the west at the Atlantic Ocean and stretches in an eastern direction to the Moroccan-Algerian border. At the Atlantic and to the southwest the range drops abruptly...
requires much structures as fly-overs
Overpass
An overpass is a bridge, road, railway or similar structure that crosses over another road or railway...
, viaduct
Viaduct
A viaduct is a bridge composed of several small spans. The term viaduct is derived from the Latin via for road and ducere to lead something. However, the Ancient Romans did not use that term per se; it is a modern derivation from an analogy with aqueduct. Like the Roman aqueducts, many early...
s and bridges. The existing national road (route nationale) is used for transport of building material etc. Along this route new exits and side roads are constructed to several main working locations and temporary factories (concrete
Concrete
Concrete is a composite construction material, composed of cement and other cementitious materials such as fly ash and slag cement, aggregate , water and chemical admixtures.The word concrete comes from the Latin word...
, storage, camp-sites for builders, etc.).
The new road crosses the existing road several times and follows more or less the same route through the mountains.
layout
Over the full length the new autoroute will have:- two standard traffic lanes in each direction, each 3.5 meters wide with a central separation zone of at least 3 meters
- one emergency lane / hard shoulder in each direction of 1.5 meters wide
The road has 8 exits/entries, 9 toll-port gates and 4 rest stops
Rest area
A rest area, travel plaza, rest stop, or service area is a public facility, located next to a large thoroughfare such as a highway, expressway, or freeway at which drivers and passengers can rest, eat, or refuel without exiting on to secondary roads...
with petrol stations
Filling station
A filling station, also known as a fueling station, garage, gasbar , gas station , petrol bunk , petrol pump , petrol garage, petrol kiosk , petrol station "'servo"' in Australia or service station, is a facility which sells fuel and lubricants...
, cafés
Cafeteria
A cafeteria is a type of food service location in which there is little or no waiting staff table service, whether a restaurant or within an institution such as a large office building or school; a school dining location is also referred to as a dining hall or canteen...
and a room or building for praying. Also 13 viaducts and one tunnel was built to complete the road (excluding viaducts built over the road and/or tunnels under the road for crossing inferior local roads or feet-bridges: if you include these another 100 structures can be included.
Toll road
As (nearly) all Moroccan Expressways this new section is also a toll-road.The existing national road will remain open as a toll-free alternative for the autoroute as well as allowing access to smaller villages and roads. Traveling time between Marrakech and Agadir will be reduced greatly as the autoroute allows overtaking everywhere (4 lane), bypasses villages and allows higher speeds. Possible speed on 2-lane national roads is often greatly reduced due to very slow lorries crawling up a hill while steep bends and traffic from the other side make overtaking hazardous or impossible.
The completion of the Marrakech-Agadir section complete a North-South corridor of toll-roads / expressways that shortens the travel-distance on the route Tangier
Tangier
Tangier, also Tangiers is a city in northern Morocco with a population of about 700,000 . It lies on the North African coast at the western entrance to the Strait of Gibraltar where the Mediterranean meets the Atlantic Ocean off Cape Spartel...
to Agadir by nearly 50 km (via toll-roads the distance is 776 and via the Route Nationale 824 km. But the biggest save is driving-time: the average traveling time Tangier-Agadir over national (free) roads is 14,5 hours while the same via the different toll-roads is under 7,5 hours