Al Ain Municipality launches Dh312 million city development project

Dubai: Al Ain is soon to have a revamp as the civic administration has embarked upon a project to develop its town centre at a cost of Dh312 million.

Work on the project will start early next month and is expected to be completed in 16 months, Al Ain Municipality announced on Wednesday after the signing of the contract. The city is to be made pedestrian-friendly and one of its landmark bridges is to be demolished.

Awad Bin Hasoom Al Darmaky, General Manager of Al Ain Municipality, signed the contract with a private company. He said the aim of the project was to develop the city to keep up with urban growth while preserving its character and architectural heritage.

"We have initiated a project to improve the appearance of the city so as to make it an important tourist attraction in the UAE, providing an opportunity for visitors to enjoy natural scenery," he said.

The general manager described the new development as: Al Ain, A Pedestrian-Friendly City.

Vehicular traffic has increased hugely in the city and the downtown area needs improvement in the required services, he said. The municipality has taken measures through a series of projects to bring back pavements in the city which will help solve problems for pedestrians.

Dr Matar Al Nuami, Executive Director of the Roads and Intersections Sections, said the project will streamline vehicular traffic in the city along with providing 450 parking lots. An area of 3,000 square meters will be developed under the project. Some 25 rest areas will be constructed in the downtown area that will able to accommodate some 600 people.

The area, he said, will be decorated with murals, safety barriers, and other items. The main work in the project includes the demolishing of and removal of about 3500 cubic meters of the concrete bridge on Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan-I Street.

The bridge is one of the city's landmarks and links Shaikha Salama Roundabout with the Teapot Roundabout. It will be replaced with a beautifully designed network of roads over an area of 120 thousand meters. This area will have some 32 safe corridors for pedestrians crossing.

The development on Shaikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Street will have six to eight metre wide pavements in front of shops and buildings on both sides of the road. Two underground car parking lots will be constructed, with a capacity for 320 cars near the Al Ain Cooperative Society. An area of 5500 square meters on the surface of these parking lots will be converted into rest areas.

Al Ain Municipality will also take into account safety precautions during the implementation of the project and several traffic diversions will be created.