Road to nowhere

When the plan for Fouad Boutros Road came to the Lebanese public’s attention this spring, activists and public officials clashed, with claims from both sides growing in volume and aggression. The administrative authorities support the Fouad Boutros link, an estimated $75 million project that they say would improve traffic flows through Beirut’s densely populated Ashrafieh district. Opponents of the plan cry foul over the idea, saying the project will not alleviate traffic, but will instead destroy the area’s social fabric, old building stock and hidden patches of serene nature. Executive took both sides to task, analyzing the likely impact the Boutros road would have if constructed. At the outset, it became clear that there were no real facts to deliberate on, because detailed project plans and impact studies were either hopelessly outdated, kept confidential, incomplete or non-existent. Without such data, it is not possible to give a reasonable assessment of