Dubai: Traffic on Shaikh Zayed Road heading towards Jebel Ali and Abu Dhabi will from Saturday be diverted to temporary lanes for a distance of 1km to enable the construction of a flyover as part of the Dubai Canal project.
This is the first phase of the diversion that will begin at Business Bay Metro Station and end at Interchange Two. The diversionary road has six lanes.
The second phase will be implemented by the second week of November, with traffic heading towards Sharjah being diverted westwards.
“We have done our best to ensure there is no disruption to traffic. The same number of lanes have been maintained on both sides of the road. Construction on the flyover will begin once the traffic on the diversion settles down,” Maitha Bin Udai, CEO of RTA’s Traffic and Roads Agency, said.
The 800-metre-long and 16-lane flyover will be built in two phases. Construction on the first part — towards Sharjah — will begin shortly, raising Shaikh Zayed Road up to eight metres to enable the 3.2km long canal to pass underneath.
“By November 15, traffic towards Sharjah will be moved to the existing Abu Dhabi road, which will clear space on the existing road towards Sharjah. The first part of the flyover will then be built. Once it is ready, traffic towards Sharjah will move to the flyover,” Udai said.
The Shaikh Zayed Road flyover will also include service roads in both directions and is expected to be ready by 2016, along with a four-lane flyover on Al Wasl road and a six-lane flyover on Jumeirah Beach Road.
Another diversion — starting from the western side of Al Safa Park to Umm Amara Road exit — will come into effect by the end of this month to clear the way for the building of Al Wasl Road flyover.
The Al Wasl Road flyover, which is part of the phase two of Dubai Canal project, will also include a ramp that will ease traffic from Al Wasl Road to Al Hadiqa street.
Work on the Dh2 billion Dubai Canal project began late last year, with all three phases being carried out simultaneously. The third phase covers the digging of the 3.2 km-long canal, creation of an Island and beaches, constructing a marine wall around the Island, building marina for yachts and the water bus, and constructing three footbridges across the canal.
