A terrible accident occurred yesterday, Tuesday July 30, 2025, on the Marsa motorway (Route Nationale 9), at Sidi Daoud. A vehicle violently struck one of the pillars of the pedestrian bridge, causing the death of at least one person at the time, according to the first elements available.
The images were so shocking that the witnesses on the spot found in tears. The emergency services intervened quickly, but could only note the human and material damage. An investigation is underway.
This umpteenth drama relaunches the debates on the extreme dangerousness of this road axis, which is located in the heart of the upper suburbs of Tunis. Because for several years, the Marsa highway has established itself as a daily theater of accidents, overruns of speed and high -risk behaviors.
A high -risk highway
The Marsa motorway, officially the RN9, links the Tunisian capital to the northern suburbs by crossing very densely populated areas: Sidi Daoud, El Aouina … until the Marsa. If it has been the subject of major modernization works in recent years, with the expansion to several lanes and the construction of pedestrian bridges, this was not enough to stem the chronic insecurity which reigns there.
Each day, this highway sees thousands of vehicles scrolling, but also many reckless pedestrians crossing apart from secure passages, despite the presence of pedestrian bridges at Carrefour and Sidi Daoud. Many passers -by, including workers and students, continue to challenge the danger, for lack of reliable public transport or landscaped sidewalks.
Speed, collective taxis and nocturnal rodeos
But pedestrians are not the only matter in question. Excessive speed on the RN9 has become a scourge, especially on sections devoid of especially functional fixed radars. At night, the highway becomes a real race track for motorcycles and sports cars, in an atmosphere worthy of Fast & Furious. No serious control is exercised.
Collective taxis, omnipresent on this axis, aggravate the situation by their untimely judgments, their brutal changes, and their indifference to the highway code. As for private vehicles, aggressive behavior is common.
A highway of death that worries
Since its express development in the 2010s, the Marsa highway has been supposed to streamline traffic between the capital and its posh suburbs. But with uncontrolled urban growth, the exponential number of vehicles, and the absence of serious road safety plan, this infrastructure has turned into a daily nightmare for users.
According to unofficial figures, several dozen serious accidents take place every year, killing and seriously injured, not to mention the monster traffic jams which sometimes paralyze all the east of Tunis.
Solutions that are slow to come
Faced with this situation, several tracks can be envisaged:
- Strengthening of fixed and mobile radars, in particular to blackheads (Carrefour, Sidi Daoud, El Aouina).
- Installation of smart monitoring cameras to verbalize offenses (overruns, speed, prohibited crossings).
- Strict supervision of collective taxis, with delimited stop points and dissuasive fines.
- Targeted awareness campaigns for pedestrians, especially in industrial and school areas.
- Development of tracks for two-wheelers, to avoid conflicts between motorcycles and cars.
- Increased night surveillance, to prevent illegal rodeos.
A national emergency
The Tuesday accident is unfortunately only an echo of the daily tragedy experienced on the RN9. It is time for the authorities to act firmly to transform this highway, today perceived as a fatal hatch, into a secure axis up to its strategic importance.
Without a strong political will, the RN9 will continue to wear the sad nickname of death … in the heart of the capital.
