You are invited to attend the upcoming public information meeting to learn more about the Green Line. The meeting will be organised on February 24, 2009 (12.00pm), in the civil engineering faculty of Damascus. There will be representatives from the Traffic & Transport Engineering Directorate - and the international consultants in charge of the study (Systra / Khatib & Alami) on hand to answer your questions.
An exhibition about the Green Line project was inaugurated on 27/01/2009 in Hijaz Station under the patronage of his Excellency the Governor of Damascus, with the participation of his Deputy.
Posters detailing the main results of the study are displayed. These posters present the Green Line route, the station locations, and the project impacts (environmental and social impacts).
This exhibition is an important part of the continuous consultation process carried out by the metro project team. Precise and detailed information are provided on the 15 presentation boards.
The exhibition is opened to everyone in the Hijaz Railway Station from January 27 to February 12, 2009 (12:00 PM to 7:00 PM every day).
The third stage of consultation related to the Damascus Metro Green Line project will start very soon.
As part of this stage, the following events will be organised:
During these meetings and conferences, the different steps of the feasibility study, carried out by international experts under the supervision of Damascus Governorate – Traffic and Transport Engineering Directorate, will be presented. As for the first two stages, brochures and questionnaires will be distributed in strategic points located along the Green Line. More detailed information will also be available on the Green Line website:
http://www.damascus-metro.com/consultation/phase3/.
Meetings, steering committee Meetings and consultation events took place during the last few months.
These meetings address: the institutional arrangements, the financial analysis and approaches for cost estimation, the environmental impact analysis, the integration of the line in the urban environment of Damascus, civil engineering and geotechnical issues and the project management process.
We have also completed the second stage of the consultation and communication task.
The results of this stage are very important and confirm the desire and the hope of the population. The involvement of stakeholders was very useful for a better understanding of urban and transportation projects planned in Damascus.
The consultation is a key issue for the success of the project!
The second stage of public consultation based on the distribution of questionnaires and brochures in several points of distribution within Damascus ended on October 9, with the cooperation of the Traffic and Transport engineering Directorate and also on the website www.damascus-metro.com.
The participation was important as for the first stage, and the number of visitors was quite high on the website every day.
The consultation and communication process will continue. Several meetings were held with NGOs, traffic and urban planning engineers, metro users and managers of the submunicipalities.
In the next few weeks, the results of this second stage will be analysed, and the third stage of consultation (planned in January) will be prepared by the project team.
The studies and activities related to the implementation of Damascus Metro Project- the Green Line- include among others, environmental impact assessment (EIA) study. The EIA study aims to identify the potential environmental impacts of the metro project, both positive and negative impacts, and to provide appropriate mitigation measures where needed, in order to minimize the unavoidable impacts.
The EIA study includes air quality measurements at six (6) geographical locations along the project’s alignment, where the proposed locations are Moaadameyeh, Somariyeh, Baath, Hijaz, Abbassyeen, and Qaboun.
The aim of these measurements is to define the baseline environmental conditions before starting the implementation works. The measurements include some environmental indicators such as NOx and PM10.
It is well known that metro is operating by electric power, which means that it is free of emissions compared to other transportation modes, such as busses and vehicles.
Air quality measurements are conducted for one continuous month duration at each location.
The first stage of public consultation organised in May 2008 was a success: more than 2500 people responded to the questionnaire or sent comments to the project team. About 10000 people visited the Green Line website. You can find main results of this first phase on the “Consultation phase 1″ page.
After this first phase, the process keeps going on. A second stage of consultation is organised from August 31 to September 25, 2008. The main objective of this second phase of consultation is to present you the alternative options for the Green Line, and to seek your views via a questionnaire, in order to integrate more local issues. Your opinion will be a key element for the choice of the best option for the Green Line: we will integrate your feedback in the study, where possible.
Damascus Governorate thanks you a lot for your participation and your keen interest for this major project.
As part of the consultation process, some people highlighted some technical issues that could delay the implementation of the project.
Geotechnical matters will be deeply analysed by the project team as part of the study under progress. Geotechnical site investigations are currently being carried out to comprehend more precisely the soil conditions. 30 boreholes located along the Green Line will be drilled to examine the soil of Damascus (as in Mezzeh Autostrad - Adab on this picture). The results will be incorporated into the general process which will lead to define the Green Line route.
Other examples of metro around the world show that it is always possible to build an underground metro line, even with sensitive geotechnical and hydrological conditions. Various technical solutions exist to cope with bad ground conditions. More information concerning the design of the infrastructure will be obtained from the geotechnical site investigations.
Major results related to the first stage of consultation are:
The project team (the Directorate of Traffic and Transport Engineering of Damascus Governorate and the consultants) consider the present step as very pioneering in Syria. The following steps will be dedicated to the choice of the best options. This second stage of consultation will begin at the end of August.
The first stage of our consultation was a success. The population was enthusiastic.
We distributed 25 000 brochures and questionnaires in 24 points. We received 2612 answers via the distribution points, the electronic mail, post and even fax.
On the other hand, the website was an important element for the consultation success. 9950 visits (6805 different visitors). 75307 pages were downloaded for the website. We also received 26 questions directly from specialists via the website. The project team answered to all these questions.