Road safety has been one of the priorities for the Unions of Municipalities of Dreib El Gharby, Dreib El Awsat and Akkar El Chemaly given the hazardous current roads’ situation in the region. And based on MASAR experts’ assessment, the project was divided into two sets of activities executed by PCPM: Infrastructural improvements and Capacity Building.
Infrastructural improvements
Those improvements focused on places where the highest number of accidents were registered (blackspots). It was agreed to prioritize pedestrians’ safety, especially in the vicinity of public buildings, schools and busier crossroads. Many activities were conducted out of which Road Safety audit to identify the above-mentioned blackspots, selection of the blackspots where infrastructural measures should be implemented, design of road safety measures at the prioritized blackspots and the implementation of the designs.
Capacity building
For a better social adaptation of the new designs and for a more effective first response to road safety accidents, MASAR team along with the Unions of Municipalities, organized training sessions for the municipal police in road safety, municipal police mandate and first response coordination.
At the end of the training sessions, a simulated rescue action was organized with the Lebanese Red Cross, Lebanese Civil Defense and the municipal police.
More Activities
In addition to the above activities, awareness campaigns were organized by PCPM – MASAR allowing young residents, teachers and bus drivers to further grasp the safety standards. Sixty bus drivers were equipped with first aid kits, reflective vests and fire extinguishers. More than 25 teachers of 11 different schools participated in the awareness campaigns and expressed their willingness to spread the word to children and youth in their schools.
Towards Project Sustainability
The installed infrastructural improvements comply with the Lebanese and International Road Safety Standards. At the same time, they can be maintained and repaired (in case of any future damage) at a reasonable cost.
The Union of Municipalities Engineers were included in the project from the very beginning and they, while taking ownership of the project and developing their capacity, the engineers will facilitate and contribute in the management of the project and similar projects in the future.
The police increased awareness of the municipal mandate and their involvement in traffic surveillance and accidents’ first response will increase road safety in the future. As it will enhance their daily work especially with the equipment supplied by MASAR which will allow them to employ their new acquired skills.