President El-Sisi inaugurated on March 2, 2023, the second phase of the project to develop, expand and raise the efficiency of the Western Desert Road in the distance from the city of Minya to the city of Qusiya, with a length of 60 km, at a cost of 2.5 billion pounds.

The second phase includes 6 tunnels, making the road 6 lanes wide in each direction, 3 of which are paved with concrete.

The road is an integrated and modern hub to connect the governorates of Upper Egypt and serves new projects of development in all industrial, agricultural, commercial and tourism fields.

The road is considered a part of the Cairo-Cape Town road to connect with Africa, in addition to tunneling works for the main intersections with the road.