By Hussain Hazazi

Okaz/Saudi Gazette

JEDDAH — Days after the shifting of the US Consulate in Jeddah to its new headquarters in Muhammadiyah District, next to the building of the new American International School, on Saturday the consulate began to remove the concrete blocks in front of its old headquarters in Palestine Street.

Concrete barriers, put up on this section of the road for security reasons, which was part of the extension of the Palestine Street leading to Al-Hamrah, invariably caused traffic jams, forcing many road users to seek alternative routes.

Mohammed Al-Baqmi, spokesman of Jeddah Mayoralty, told Okaz/Saudi Gazette that the mayoralty, will carry out maintenance of the street after the removal of concrete barriers so as to facilitate smooth flow of traffic along the street.

The US Consulate had been functioning on the Palestine Street for more than 65 years, after moving its headquarters from the downtown Balad area until its relocation on Sept. 22. When the consulate had moved to Al-Hamra, the neighborhood was then an isolated area on the Red Sea coast, marking the border of the city on the northern side. As the city expanded further north and east Al-Hamrah District became in the middle of the city.

The US Consulate announced that it has resumed its operation and rendering of services to the people of Jeddah and the Western Region from Sept. 24. The entrance for the public to obtain all consular services including visas and services for the US citizens is located on the western side of the consulate on Al-Saff Street.

Meanwhile, Okaz/Saudi Gazette has learnt that the owner of the parking lot of the private hospital adjacent to the old US Consulate premises, recently embarked on a project to build multi-story parking on the same site to serve the hospital staff as well as visitors.