Coping without Sharjah's Al Wahda road

Dubai: The closure of Al Wahda Street made Sharjah residents set out on Sunday for work in Dubai an hour earlier than their usual time.

Al Wahda Street will remain closed for two years for the second phase of road works.

Those living in areas such as Al Rolla, Abu Shagara, King Faisal, Al Qassimia, Samnan and the industrial areas in Sharjah opted to take Emirates Road and the Sharjah-Dubai highway, leaving the entire Ittihad Road and Ta'awun road looking completely deserted.

It was a dream drive for people who opted to use those routes.

But drivers said the real test for their nerves would be getting home after work.

Mohammad Azad Ali, a Pakistani resident of Abu Shargara in Sharjah said one of the diversions runs from in front of his building, which is located on a busy street that also has car workshops and a couple of second-hand car shops.

Getting caught

"I left for work an hour early today to avoid getting caught in traffic on Al Wahda and Al Ittihad Road. I drove all the way to the Al Qassimia roundabout and then to the Kuwait roundabout and took the Sharjah-Dubai bypass road. It took me about two hours to reach my work place in Bur Dubai. I left the house at 6:30am and reached work at about 8:45am. It is going to take many more hours on the road to get home after work and that is what I fear," he said.

The Public Works Department (PWD) in Sharjah, along with Sharjah Police have set up various diversions accompanied with traffic signals to help commuters living in and around the effected area get around.

A senior official from the PWD said the street will be closed from the Yarmook area to the junction of King Faisal Street. For Sharjah-Dubai and Dubai-Sharjah commuters three alternative routes have been put in place.

"I went to bed on Saturday night drawing a map with the help of my wife so as to come out with the best route to get to work. I am in no mood to get stuck in traffic for more than two hours and get to my work place feeling exhausted," said Sami Abdullah Hussain, an Egyptian who lives in one of the buildings opposite Al Falah Plaza.

"I informed my wife that I would be late getting back home.

"I get home every day between 8pm and 8:30pm. I intend to stay at work and drive home only after 8pm when traffic should be more quiet," he added.

Unlike what Sami and Mohammad had to experience, Nikita's drive to work was a breeze. She lives in the Al Nahda in Sharjah.

She said: "It was a dream drive for me on Al Ittihad Road. The road was unusually calm, there were no police sirens and no displays of road rage. But my heart goes out to residents who live in and around the effected area on Al Wahda Street," she said.